4 Light in darkness


Petitioning government for assistance has a long and glorious history in this country, as do public inquiries into ineptitude and injustice. Combine the two, and just about anyone will tell you they look to government to do the right thing but have a complaint ready when it doesn’t. It’s almost like we’re expecting it. This is Canada, and even our hopes are self-deprecating. Sorry.


But this is also December, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Whatever the weather brings this season, the emphasis is on hope. The dark days of winter will start getting longer before the month’s over as the earth once again begins to tilt towards the sun. The seasons take care of themselves and we can depend on them to follow one after another even if a changing climate starts to alter their character. The seasons remind us that there’s much to be hopeful about, regardless of the challenges we face. Winter might be coming, but spring follows after. While there’s a difference between the laws of nature and the law of the land, we operate in a country where there’s a general respect for the rule of law, which makes life a little more predictable. We might not agree with the law, but we can choose which side to operate on. Disagreeing with Mother Nature is a lot more difficult, and the stakes are higher when we lose. This is one reason why farmers often take a


justifiable pride in saying they work with the land, not against it. While the challenges have brought plenty of innovation, farming is fundamentally about finding ways nature will yield the most food in the most sustainable way possible. While humans are an aspirational species, those of us who farm live in hope more than most.


The stories at the heart of the festivals we celebrate every fall in BC focus on the triumph of light over darkness. From Diwali to Christmas, we celebrate the hope, the confidence that light will return and have the final word. The story at the heart of Christmas reminds us that light comes to us and we’re to make room for it. Whatever the challenges of the past year – whether from trespassers, trade woes, weather or red tape – there’s a new year right around the corner. It’s a chance to leave behind past troubles and embrace new opportunities to get things right. While farmers in the Peace will be trying to salvage to crops left in the field, beekeepers in Nanaimo will be vigilant for Asian hornets. Several landowners will be hoping municipalities and the Agricultural Land Commission is more accommodating. And here at Country Life in BC, we’re hoping farmers across the province continue to do what they do well, and enjoy the support of everyone who makes what they do possible, and profitable.


The West is packing its bags. Does Ottawa care? In October 1987, the Reform Party of Canada was founded in Winnipeg. It


grew out of Western Canada’s frustration with the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. The new party embraced conservative values and burst onto the national political stage in 1988 proclaiming, “The West Wants In.” In 1993, the Reform


The Back Forty BOB COLLINS


Party surpassed the Progressive Conservatives to become the largest party in Western Canada. In 1997, the party ran candidates


across the country, excluding Quebec, but was unable to establish itself east of Manitoba, winning only one seat in Ontario. In 2000, trying to broaden its appeal, the Reform Party joined with the remnants of the Progressive Conservatives to form the Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance, more simply known as the Canadian Alliance. In April 2002, Stephen Harper replaced Stockwell Day as the Alliance leader, paving the way for the emergence of the Conservative Party of Canada. On October 21, the Conservative Party, like the Reform Party in 1993, dominated western Canada, winning 71 of 104 seats. The Conservative’s Western success was not matched in the east where the party won only 50 of 234 seats. We now have a Liberal minority government with 15 seats in western


Canada. There are no Liberal MPs in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The results reflect the deep anger and apprehension of voters who are suffering economically and feel ill-used and unappreciated by the government in Ottawa. When the prime minister justified an ill-advised attempt to interfere in the justice system on behalf of Montreal-based construction giant SNC-Lavalin by claiming that his ultimate responsibility was to protect Canadian jobs, many unemployed oil industry workers wondered if their jobs were less important. There is a certain irony in western alienation turning to the same party whose policies led to the rise of the Reform Party 30 years ago. In fairness, today’s Conservative Party is not the Conservative Party of Brian Mulroney, but


its power is very much rooted in the West, and the hard reality is the 71 seats in the region leave the Conservatives 99 seats short of forming a majority government. As history has shown, sitting in opposition is like riding in the back seat: you get to criticize the driver and the direction he’s headed, but don’t get to draw the map or hold the wheel. The current minority means that someone else will get to sit up front and pick some of the destinations. It will not likely be anyone deeply concerned with the economic woes of Alberta and Saskatchewan. But there’s another irony, too. The same anger and frustration that gave rise to the Reform Party in 1987 is no longer saying The West Wants In. There is a new battle cry: The West Wants Out. It’s the slogan of the emerging Wexit Party, whose name is an abbreviation of Western-Exit (think: Brexit). Wexit is committed to a referendum to leave Canada. Initially, it emerged in Alberta but it has now spread to all four western provinces. The real push is in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where 33% and 27%, respectively, of polled voters said they supported the idea. Wexit Canada has applied to Elections Canada to become a federal political party. That process is underway but Wexit cannot become officially registered until it has run a candidate in a general election or by- election.


While the actual separation of all or part of Western Canada seems implausible, the suggestion is too palpable to ignore. Neither premiers Scott Moe of Saskatchewan nor Jason Kenney of Alberta are buying into the Wexit agenda but both understand the sentiment driving it. Mr. Kenney isn’t talking divorce yet, but he is considering ways to alter the terms of the federal/provincial relationship. While there is little Wexit talk in BC, former Prince George-Peace River


Conservative MP Jay Hill has publicly endorsed the idea, saying that voters in his former riding have more in common with their Alberta neighbours than those in and around Vancouver. A quick look at the electoral map shows the 17 BC Conservative members in firm control of the eastern half of the province. Those 17 BC members outnumber all the Liberal MP’s in all of Western Canada. Mr. Trudeau has some serious bridge building to do if he hopes to let the air


out of Wexit’s balloon. The sooner he starts, the better. Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni Valley.


Publisher Cathy Glover


The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 Vol.105 No.12 . DECEMBER 2019


Published monthly by Country Life 2000 Ltd. www.countrylifeinbc.com


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