Opinion
Politics is a ruthless game.
The announcement of Mark Carney’s cabinet this week puts that fact on full display, especially for those of us watching from the vantage point of Canada’s agriculture industry.
While the cabinet roster features some new faces and some familiar ones, one glaring absence from the agriculture file has left many scratching their heads and, frankly, feeling gutted. I’m talking about the absence of Kody Blois, MP for King Hants, Nova Scotia.
For those inside the ag policy circles, the assumption was almost automatic: Blois should have been the heir apparent. He was the well-spoken chair of the House of Commons’ ag committee, a young-but-seasoned participant in agriculture policy discussions, well-known across the country in ag circles, and importantly, someone who had already done the groundwork to build trust and relationships across the country. He was even named agriculture minister during the Carney government’s transition period — albeit for for less than two weeks before the election campaign — but still, that symbolic appointment sent a clear signal that he was likely in line for the post. And then…nothing.
This is where the cold edge of politics slices through assumptions. Even when you check a lot of boxes for voters and stakeholders, geography, internal party dynamics, and opaque political calculus can knock you out of the running. For Blois, a loyal Liberal from Nova Scotia who was also an early supporter of Carney’s leadership, the math didn’t add up in his favour. Nova Scotia was never going to have more than two cabinet ministers, so whether it was Sean Fraser and Lena Metlege Diab’s appointments, Carney’s commitment to gender parity, or some other reason, the omission has left the industry disappointed.
The reaction to Blois’ omission is very unique. We have an industry that, let’s be honest, largely voted Conservative in the last election and in many elections before that. And yet, that same industry, with a large contingent based in Western Canada, was rooting for a Liberal MP from Eastern Canada to be their champion in cabinet. The frustration and disappointment from farmers and ranchers is a huge testament to the bipartisan work Blois has been putting in over the past number of years for agriculture, whether touring farms across the country or chairing the House of Commons’ ag committee.
There may have been some of the same reaction if longtime Conservative shadow minister of agriculture John Barlow, for example, was left out of a hypothetical Pierre Poilievre cabinet, but the comparatively thin depth of agricultural awareness in the Liberal caucus makes Blois’ omission even more significant and impactful.
I got to see Blois’ understanding of agricultural issues and his ability to communicate firsthand when I moderated the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s Ag Leaders Debate. For many watching, it was his coming-out party. There were industry veterans who came up to me afterwards wondering aloud where this Kody Blois guy had been hiding. His performance, his grasp of the files, his authentic understanding of rural realities, it all resonated deeply with an audience that doesn’t hand out compliments easily to Liberals, and a group wanting someone better than Lawrence MacAulay.
And now, the agriculture file has been handed to Heath MacDonald, also from the East Coast. No disrespect to MacDonald, who will no doubt have his own approach and vision, but he will be living in the shadow of “what could have been.” That’s not an enviable position for any new minister, as Blois gave the industry hope that the bar could be raised.
Related: Blois out, as Carney taps Heath MacDonald of PEI to serve as ag minister
