Potato board hires D.C. lobbyist
Push for talks to now move from technical discussion to trade issue
With financial backing from the provincial government, the P.E.I. Potato Board has hired a Washington lobbyist to assist with resolving the ongoing fresh potato export stoppage.
During a meeting before the P.E.I. standing committee on natural resources and environmental sustainability, board general manager Greg Donald said a “communications consultant and a specialist in advocacy” who is active in Washington has been hired. Late in the afternoon on Jan. 13, Donald told SaltWire Network the name of the lobbyist is Crestview Strategy US.
“We needed to have help in Washington,” said Donald, who appeared with
P.E.I. Potato Board chair John Visser and seed coordinator Mary Kay Sonier on Jan. 13.
Donald said the strategy is short-term and is aimed at creating better awareness among key U.S. decisionmakers. The goal is to reopen the U.S. border to fresh potato exports from P.E.I.
The potato board has been provided with $360,000 in provincial funding to hire this lobbyist under the P.E.I.
Potato Wart Contingency Fund, a $10-million fund announced by Premier Dennis King in late November.
In an email, Department of Agriculture senior communications officer Kip Ready confirmed the funding would assist the potato board and the lobbyist to “implement a government relations strategy” and “carry out a range of activities, including but not limited to U.S. and Canadian government planning, relations exercises and developing targeted strategic digital marketing campaigns.”
The move follows a December
delegation of P.E.I. officials to Washington, which included Premier Dennis King, Donald and Agriculture and Land Minister Bloyce Thompson.
Exports of P.E.I. fresh potatoes to the U.S. were halted by the Canadian government on Nov. 21 following the discovery of potato wart on two farms.
NOT A
‘TECHNICAL ISSUE’
Currently, all U.S.-Canada discussions related to the potato export halt have been conducted between the CFIA and its counterpart, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Both bodies met on Jan.
12, but details have so far not been released about the results of the discussions.
U.S. congressional representatives and industry organizations had little knowledge of the 20-year history of P.E.I.’s management of the potato wart pest, Donald said.
Donald also said P.E.I. growers have been frustrated that CFIA officials have treated the export halt as a “technical issue.” He argued there is no scientific basis to fear the possible spread of potato wart from P.E.I. fresh potatoes because they are washed, scrubbed and treated with sprout inhibitor.
“As a country we need to stand up for that science,” Donald said.
“There’s no rationale for the suspension that we have on our own country.”
A ministerial order issued by Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, which also halted movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes in conjunction with the export halt, stated that P.E.I. “is a place infested with potato wart”.
Donald also said this phrasing unnecessarily exaggerated the risk of potato wart in P.E.I.
Federal Conservative Agriculture critic John Barlow said the move by the potato board reflected a “lack of faith” from producers in the federal government’s handling of the P.E.I. potato export negotiations.
“The government has come out quite hard when it comes to electric vehicles right now. But I haven't seen the same aggressive stance when it comes to this issue," Barlow said in a phone interview.
‘A POLITICAL ANIMAL’
Barlow said the federal government should consider all options, up to and including trade dispute mechanisms under the Canada-U.S.Mexico Trade Agreement.
"I think most of us realize that this is a political animal. Coincidentally, P.E.I. has a bumper potato crop (last year). And United States growers see this as a threat. And U.S. administration played along," Barlow said.
"This needs a political resolution. There has to be some political capital put on the line here."
When asked if trade litigation was considered prior to the imposition of an export halt, Bibeau stated “every option (was) considered,” but the federal government ultimately decided they did not have a case.