University of Alberta From Farm Crisis to Food Crisis Neoliberal Reform in Canadian Agriculture and the Future of Agri-Food Policy by Kevin George Wipf A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science ©Kevin George Wipf Fall 2013 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my father Ronald Edwin Wipf Abstract This dissertation begins by providing an overview of Canadian agriculture policy during the first half of the twentieth century. It examines the origins of railway transportation subsidies, farm income subsidies, and the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), policy instruments that became structural features of the agricultural industry on the prairies. It then analyzes the structural pressures that led governments to rethink these features beginning in the 1970s, and the demographic and political context in which farmer support for collective institutions was eroded and neoliberal farm groups came to influence public policy over the decades that followed. Subsequent chapters examine the way that the federal government attempted to reform farm income subsidies in the 1990s and 2000s, in order to adhere to newly established international trade rules, and the relative success of those efforts. Two chapters are then devoted to the political struggle between the neoliberal and collectivist coalitions (farm groups, opposition parties, and governments) over the future of the CWB’s single desk. The second of these chapters focuses on the final political struggle that occurred once the Harper Conservatives won a majority government in 2011, and how the single desk was finally brought to an end. Two concluding chapters then examine the new politics that has emerged around issues pertaining to food security, food safety, and environmental sustainability in Canada, how these issues affect, but often fail to intersect with, the continuing debates about the future of Canadian farming. The dissertation ends by exploring ways that prairie farmers might make connections to these issues, and with the groups working on them, in order to ensure their involvement in the future of agri-food policy in Canada. Completion of this dissertation would have been impossible without the support of many people. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Dave Whitson for his invaluable wisdom, guidance, and encouragement throughout this process. This project simply would not have been possible without his dedicated mentorship. I would also like to thank my supervisory committee members Dr. Ian Urquhart and Dr. Roger Epp, for their invaluable encouragement and feedback. Thanks must also go to my external committee members Dr. Ellen Goddard and Dr. Darin Barney, for their important and challenging comments. I would also like to thank the members of the faculty and administration of the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, for their help and guidance at different times in different ways throughout my time in the PhD program. Thanks must also go to the many peoples involved in farm policy debates and scholarship, who had a significant influence on me during my research and writing for this project. This list includes Dr. Andrew Schmitz and his family, the members and employees of the National Farmers Union, Dr. Nettie Wiebe, Dr. Annette Desmarais, and Hannah Wittman. It is important that I extend my thanks the following friends and relatives for their support, advice, and humour throughout my time on this journey: Jarett Goodwin, Tobi Gardner, Solomon Ssenyange, Mike Bitton, Jim Winkle, Steve Gibson, and all of the guys who participant in the annual Christmas Eve Cup back home. Finally, I would like to thank Marilyn Wipf and Krystil Jones for their love, encouragement, and belief in me throughout this journey. I could not have brought this project to completion, without their endless support. The important lessons that I learned working on my family’s grain farm while growing up, gave me the tools to endure the challenges and hardships that I encountered throughout my academic career and in life in general. It is my sincere hope that these lessons continue to be taught in the countryside throughout Canada for decades and centuries to come. It is important that there is a future for our family farms… Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Chapter 2: History of Prairie Agriculture 14. 2.1. Introduction 14. 2.2. 1890-1945: The Political Power of Farmers & the National Interest 16. 2.2.1. The Political Unity of Farmers 16. 2.2.2. Farm Lobby Groups, Cooperatives, and Political Parties 21. 2.2.3. Initial Federal Farm Regulations, Institutions, and Programs 24. 2.3. 1945-1985: Growth of Farm Assistance Measures in Prairie Agriculture 33. 2.3.1. Politics, Lobbying, and the Expansion of Farm Assistance Measures 34. 2.3.2. Provincial Activism and Farm Assistance Measures 40. 2.4. 1985 - Present: Rise of Neoliberalism and Division Within the Prairie Farm Community 43. 2.4.1. Division Within The Farm Community 48. 2.4.2. Creation of Neoliberal Farm Groups 52. 2.4.3. Reform of the Crow Rate 56. 2.4.4. Trade Liberalization 59. 2.5. Conclusion 61. Chapter 3: Theoretical Approaches 63. 3.1. Introduction 63. 3.2. Institutionalist Theories 66. 3.2.1. Policy Paradigms 66. 3.2.2. Policy Communities and Policy Networks 78. 3.2.3. Path Dependence 84. 3.3. The Political Economy Critique 89. 3.3.1. Oligopolies and the Hourglass Figure 91. 3.3.2. Horizontal and Vertical Integration 93. 3.3.3. The Technology Treadmill and the Cost-Price Squeeze 95. 3.3.4. The Food Regimes Approach 98. 3.3.5. Food Security & Food Sovereignty 106. 3.4. An Alternative Future? 114. 3.5. Concluding Remarks 115. Chapter 4: Farm Subsidy Policy Reform, 1987-1997 119. 4.1. Introduction 119. 4.2. Progressive Conservative Government Reforms: 1987-1993 120. 4.2.1. Farm Crisis Begins 120. 4.2.2. Ad Hoc Emergency Programs 124. 4.2.3. Agriculture Policy Reform 127. 4.2.4. Farm Income Protection Act 130. 4.2.5. Farm Groups’ Views Toward Reforms 132. 4.2.6. The Provinces’ Views Toward Reforms 133. 4.2.7. Farm Groups Renew Pressure for Assistance 135. 4.2.8. Farm Income Protection Act Unravels 139. 4.3. Liberal Government Reforms 140. 4.3.1. Farm Income Recovers 140. 4.3.2. In Search of a National Whole Farm Program 142. 4.3.3. Crow Benefit Reform Debate 145. 4.3.4. Federal Budget, 1995 148. 4.3.5. Provincial Divisions 151. 4.3.6. Federal-Provincial Agreement on Safety Nets, 1996 154. 4.3.7. Farm Groups’ Views Toward New Agreement 155. 4.4. Conclusion 158. Chapter 5: Farm Subsidy Policy Expansion, 1998-2011 159. 5.1 Introduction 159. 5.2. Farm Subsidy Reform Unravels 159. 5.2.1. Farm Crisis Returns 159. 5.2.2. Calls for Farm Aid Renewed 164. 5.2.3. Ad Hoc Disaster Programs Return 166. 5.2.4. Federal/Provincial Framework Agreement on Agricultural Risk Management, 2000 169. 5.2.5. Calls for Disaster Aid Continue 171. 5.2.6. New Federal/Provincial Farm Subsidy Agreement Negotiations 174. 5.3. National Policy Framework 177. 5.3.1. Farm Crisis Intensifies 177. 5.3.2. Agricultural Policy Framework, 2003 179. 5.3.3. Farm Group and Provincial Views Toward New Programs 184. 5.3.4. BSE Crisis 186. 5.3.5. Farm Crisis Deepens Further 189. 5.3.6. Doha Round Negotiations Fail 192. 5.4. Conservative Government Farm Subsidy Policy 194. 5.4.1. Farm Crisis Gives Way To Food Crisis 194. 5.4.2. Agricultural Policy Framework Reform 198. 5.4.3. Growing Forward Framework Agreement, 2008 201. 5.4.4. Farm Group and Provincial Views Toward New Programs 206. 5.4.5. Calls For Disaster Aid Resume 208. 5.4.6. Doha Round Failure and Bilateral Trade Agreements 214. 5.4.7. Growing Forward II Framework Agreement, 2012 216. 5.5. Conclusion 221. Chapter 6: Political Struggle Over Canadian Wheat Board, 1989-2006 223. 6.1. Introduction 223. 6.2. Composition of Prairie Farm Community 225. 6.3. Mulroney Progressive Conservative Government Reforms 227. 6.3.1. The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement 227. 6.3.2. Oats Removed From CWB’s Single Desk 228. 6.3.3. Temporary Continental Barley Market 230. 6.4. Liberal Government Reforms 233. 6.4.1. Debate Over Continental Barley Market Continues 234. 6.4.2. Policy Community Shift: Wheat Pools Privatize 235. 6.4.3. Anti-CWB Activity: Alberta Plebiscite 239. 6.4.4. Anti-Single Desk Border Runs and Legal Actions 240. 6.4.5. Western Grain Marketing Panel 245. 6.4.6. Federal Liberal Plebiscite 247. 6.4.7. Liberal CWB Reform Legislation 253 6.5. Farmer Controlled CWB Era 257. 6.5.1. Policy Advocacy: Grain Handling and Railway Transportation 257. 6.5.2. Policy Advocacy: GM Wheat 260. 6.5.3. New Marketing Options Introduced 262. 6.5.4. New Alberta Anti-Single Desk Campaign 264.