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Serving Agriculture:
Canada's Ministers of Agriculture

John J. Greene

Birthplace

Federal Constituency

Education

Professional Background

Political Affiliation

"I find it hard not to go like hell. If I can't do it, I'll just have to quit."
-- J. J. Greene, speaking about his 1969 heart attack

Political Career

Although his upbringing in Toronto was very different from a farm lifestyle, Greene was once described in the Toronto Star as "folksy, friendly and successful...easy-going and rustic...one of the best stump politicians in the Commons". As one of Canada's few non-farmer ministers of agriculture, Greene used his experience in small-town and county politics in Arnprior and Renfrew County to gain an understanding of rural communities.

Greene unsuccessfully contested the Ontario Liberal leadership in 1959. He was elected MP for Renfrew South in 1963. After his re-election in 1965, Greene became Lester Pearson's minister of agriculture--the first easterner in 54 years to hold the post. He was criticized for being an urban lawyer who knew nothing about agriculture and had simply lobbied harder than anyone else for the job.

In 1968, Greene contested the federal Liberal leadership, delivering an inspiring speech on national unity and making it to the third ballot before supporting Pierre Trudeau. Later that year he was re-elected as MP for a new constituency, Niagara Falls, and appointed minister of energy, mines and resources in Trudeau's first cabinet. As energy minister, he prevented the sale of the largest oil company under Canadian control and Canada's largest uranium producer to American interests.

Greene suffered a heart attack in 1969. In 1971, he suffered a stroke while attending a nuclear conference in Japan. He retired from cabinet in January 1972 and was called to the Senate in September 1972. Greene never stopped working for Canadians. He was still participating in Senate debates the week before he died in Ottawa in 1978.

Departmental Developments

• In 1966, the Board of Grain Commissioners computerized the warehouse receipts and accounting documents of Canadian government elevators.
• During Canada's Centennial in 1967, the department produced several special publications to document the history of the department and of Canada's agriculture industry. Higher than average numbers of visitors were noted at experimental farm establishments and the agriculture museum throughout 1967.
• The Sir John Carling building opened in Ottawa in 1967. For the first time, administrators from different department divisions and branches were brought together at an administrative headquarters on the Central Experimental Farm.
• In addition to assisting the nine original commodities it was designed to help, the Agricultural Stabilization Board provided subsidies for sugar beets, potatoes, and milk and cream for manufacturing.
• Departmental research started to place more emphasis on livestock and agricultural engineering.
• The Canadian Livestock Feed Board, created under the jurisdiction of the minister of forestry in 1966, was transferred to Greene's portfolio in 1968.

Accomplishments as Minister

Under Greene's leadership, five prominent agricultural economists were appointed to the 1967 Task Force on Agricultural Policy to make recommendations to the minister on how best to ensure farmers' income and welfare. The task force commissioned 12 studies on current agriculture issues.

In 1965, the Economics Branch began a long-term appraisal of Canadian agriculture, researching projected supply and demand figures for commodities and anticipating the market behaviour of producers and consumers. These studies considered the implementation of marketing boards for a variety of Canadian commodities and paved the way for future marketing legislation.

Amendments to the Crop Insurance Act in 1966 made insurance available to more farmers and reduced the costs of farmer participation by increasing federal contributions. The program was also extended to cover production units such as fruit trees, berry plants and forage stands, as well as the costs of preparing summer fallow should seeding be impossible the following spring due to excess moisture. Greene's amendments worked: the 1968-69 departmental annual report notes a 93-per-cent increase in the number of farmers participating in provincial insurance schemes over the previous year.

Greene was elected chairman of the World Food Program Pledging Conference at the United Nations in 1966 and led the Canadian delegation to the Food and Agricultural Organization Conference in Rome in 1967.

Worth Noting

• Greene won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the Second World War.