by BARRY WILSON
Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Geri Kamenz knew he was the skunk at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) garden party in late February when he praised federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz after a controversial speech.
The minister was saying what Ontario farmers want to hear, said the Ontario farm leader. He is delivering the goods. But most of Kamenz’ CFA comrades had a very different, more hostile view of Ritz and his performance at the late February CFA annual meeting.
The federal minister had just delivered a speech to the national farm lobby that was blunt, unusually partisan and, on the issue of the Canadian Wheat Board, dismissive of the relevance of the CFA.