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Serving Agriculture:
Canada's Ministers of Agriculture

Robert Weir

Birthplace

Federal Constituency

Education

Professional Background

Political Affiliation

Political Career

Robert Weir was elected MP for Melfort in the general election of 1930 and served the department during one of the most challenging periods in Canadian agricultural history.

The Depression was a difficult time to be in government. Communist organizers agitated in prairie relief camps and orchestrated the "On to Ottawa" trek to protest the Conservative government's policies. Established Tories and business leaders deserted Prime Minister R.B. Bennett and his social policies to organize their own Reconstruction party, which aimed to reform capitalism. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party gained strength and popularity in Weir's Saskatchewan, while the Social Credit party dominated the political agenda in Alberta. Bennett's Depression-fighting tariffs hurt more than helped the economy.

Weir lost both his seat and his portfolio when the Bennett government was defeated in 1935. He died in Weldon, Saskatchewan in 1939.

Industry Issues

Some regions and commodities continued to expand at a satisfactory level during the Depression. But the prairie wheat pool was ruined when its payments to farmers exceeded the world price for wheat in 1929. The Conservatives kept it alive with secret subsidies, and Bennett gave $20 million in emergency relief to ailing prairie farmers in 1930.

Prairie winds began lifting topsoil in 1931. The grasshoppers came in 1932 and in 1933 drought, rust, hail and frost joined them in destroying the once-prosperous prairie wheat industry. Land that yielded 23 bushels per acre in 1928 was reduced to an unviable three bushels per acre in 1937. Wheat prices dropped from $1.28 to 60 cents per bushel between 1928 and 1931. Many farmers quit or moved away from the Prairies. Previous ministers' fears about the vulnerability of prairie farmers who failed to diversify their operations were realized.

Departmental Developments

Departmental researchers at Indian Head, Scott, Swift Current and Lethbridge taught farmers how to prevent soil drifting. Some of the less-viable land was returned to pasture, for which it was more suitable. The department also provided funding for soil surveys in dry areas. The new Soil Research Laboratory at Swift Current studied moisture, drifting and fertility. The new Forage Crops Laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan established an international reputation for breeding and genetic studies with grasses and legumes, as well as for teaching. Officials from several branches collaborated on a major grasshopper control campaign in 1933. Working with the provinces, they succeeded in dramatically reducing crop losses caused by these pests. Between 1931 and 1933, the Agricultural Economics Branch conducted a farm power and machinery survey to compare the costs of horse versus tractor power. The survey was one of the first farm management and social change studies conducted in Canada. Jurisdictional debates arose over the federal government's right to establish standards for trade. In 1934, the Natural Products Marketing Act was declared unconstitutional for going beyond the federal government's jurisdiction in creating the single Dominion Marketing Board.

Accomplishments as Minister

Weir's Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Act passed in April 1935. It provided $1 million per year to help farmers solve their own problems in three ways: by improving cultural practices, conserving water supplies and changing land use. Other federal agencies and prairie provincial governments collaborated in these efforts. Originally, experimental farms staff administered the Act; today, a separate administration continues this work. Weir opposed centralizing all government research under the National Research Council (NRC), even though the rest of the members of the Privy Council committee studying the issue favoured the change. Rather than remove research from his department, Weir suggested a parallel agricultural research council. By 1934, committees involving agriculture were reorganized as joint committees of the department and the NRC. They also included representatives from industry, academia, other departments and provinces. This co-operative structure still exists in the form of the Canadian Agricultural Research Council.

Worth Noting

• Weir was a First World War hero, wounded at Passchendaele.
• The department's 1932 annual report notes an increase in enquiries about ornamental horticulture, presumably because the unemployed had more time for home improvement.
• During the Depression, Newfoundlanders tried to help by sending salt cod to destitute prairie farmers. But prairie settlers didn't know what it was--some soaked it and used it to plug holes in their roofs!