P.E.I. senator says retirement bittersweet as farmers go through ‘horrible’ time
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Former P.E.I. senator Diane Griffin calls her retirement from the higher chamber March 17 bittersweet as Island potato farmers head right into a season of uncertainty.
As previous chair of the standing Senate committee on agriculture and forestry, Griffin was a part of ongoing talks with officers within the Canadian Meals Inspection Company (CFIA) over the ban on contemporary potato exports to the U.S., discussions that had been being held as just lately as final week.
“We’re approaching the top of March, and producers must resolve in the event that they’re placing a crop on this 12 months, what sort of crop and the way a lot,’’ stated Griffin whose final day within the Senate was the day earlier than her seventy fifth birthday, the obligatory retirement age.
In a phone interview with SaltWire Community from Ottawa on March 22 the place she is tying up free ends, Griffin stated agriculture is having a “actually powerful time” this 12 months.
“It’s not foreseeable after we will get the border open once more to Prince Edward Island potatoes and if it doesn’t open or if we don’t know when it’s going to open, how do individuals make selections on what to do with their crop land? It’s horrible to contemplate what persons are going by way of. The largest concern, proper for the time being, is the potato wart concern.’’
Nonetheless, it isn’t the one excellent concern going through the Senate and P.E.I. that Griffin can be protecting a detailed eye on.
Griffin sponsored a invoice calling for the federal authorities to reverse laws handed in 2014 that divided P.E.I. into two EI zones, Charlottetown and the remainder of the province. It has obtained first and second studying within the Senate. Griffin spoke to the problem on second studying.
Along with her retirement, Yukon Sen. Pat Duncan volunteered to tackle the file. In some unspecified time in the future, it is going to go to debate earlier than being despatched to a committee for assessment the place knowledgeable witnesses could be referred to as. That might contain politicians and officers from P.E.I.
Griffin stated she has no thought how lengthy the method will take.
“The perfect-case state of affairs is that it may go within the Senate and will get despatched over to the Home of Commons. The worst-case state of affairs could be that we’ve at the very least raised the problem in public dialogue within the Parliament of Canada and the way unfair the state of affairs is to the folks that reside within the Charlottetown zone,’’ she stated. “Both method, it’s a win.’’
The opposite excellent concern affecting P.E.I. is that Griffin desires to see her emptiness within the Senate and that of former senator Mike Duffy crammed as quickly as potential. It leaves senators Percy Downe and Brian Francis left to talk for the province.
“I do know we’ve two very succesful senators within the chamber, (however) we’re entitled to 4. It’s at all times good to have as many voices as potential, particularly for the smaller areas. After we’re down two, it’s fairly an obstacle.’’
Downe stated Griffin’s absence will go away an enormous hole on the Senate ground.
“We’re clearly going to overlook Diane very a lot,’’ Downe stated from Ottawa on March 21. “She was lively on a number of recordsdata, not solely in P.E.I. however nationally.’’
Downe stated Griffin approached her position within the Senate in a non-partisan, collaborative method and was at all times targeted on points that benefited Islanders and Canadians.
Spotlight
Griffin stated her proudest second as a senator got here final 12 months when Invoice C208, the act to amend the Revenue Tax Act, was given royal assent.
Manitoba Progressive Conservative MP Larry Maguire introduced it within the Home of Commons as a personal member’s invoice whereas Griffin sponsored it within the Senate. Former P.E.I. MP Wayne Easter additionally threw in his help as then-chair of the standing committee on finance.
“(Easter) noticed the unfairness of the state of affairs the place households had been being taxed at a better price to promote their farm or fishing boat or small enterprise to their kids or grandchildren than in the event that they bought it to a stranger,” Griffin stated. “All of us labored arduous on that one. So many individuals had been relying on that invoice, from one finish of the nation to the opposite, not simply in Prince Edward Island. I’m not speaking about huge farms however small farms, intergenerational operations. To get tax equity for them was simply so vital.”
Griffin stated a detailed second was working with Easter on a invoice to formally acknowledge Charlottetown because the birthplace of Confederation. It was given royal assent in December 2017.
Future
Griffin stated she expects to return to P.E.I. on March 25 and, when the climate improves sufficient, get again to {golfing} and travelling for pleasure.
As well as, she plans on becoming a member of the Atlantic board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Griffin additionally famous that she desires to compensate for the increasing work for the Dolly Parton Creativeness Library program, which has supplied greater than 4,300 kids with greater than 50,000 kids’s books since October 2020.
“I wish to be sure the P.E.I. Literacy Alliance will get sufficient cash to maintain the creativeness library undertaking going.’’
Biography
Following is details about roles Diane Griffin has served in over time:
Dave Stewart is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island.
