GrainsWest Fall 2018

Fall 2018 grainswest.com 43 BY IAN DOIG WITH FILES FROM GEOFF GEDDES you have to sell what your customer wants, not what you have. A 16-ounce T-bone looks really nice on a meat rack in Calgary, but even we don’t eat that anymore. So, how do you disassemble a 1,300-pound carcass to get the maximum value but still deliver the product in a way that Japan, Mexico and other countries want? GW : How important was developing personal relationships in completing trade deals? GR: You build up rapport with your counterparts around the world and it makes quite a difference. And I was fortunate to have a prime minister who understood what we could do with agriculture to open the door. We dealt with everybody in these other countries, not just ag. We’d ask for round tables with other ministers and get them because they all knew they needed and wanted Canadian product. We spent less money more effectively and with faster turnaround time than you ever used to get. GW: You took a major role in legislative work aimed at im- proving rail transport of grain. That drove a review of the Canada Transportation Act, leading to the Emerson Report, which provided the blueprint for the Liberal government’s Transport 2030 plans. How does it feel to see that legislation come to pass? GR: It was very gratifying to see it come to play. They got most of it right, but there’s a couple of things I would’ve done differ- ently. It’s data that’s the big thing. What underscores all of this is Quorum Corporation [compiling] a week by week, line by line assessment of what’s where and why and is it actually meeting the target. GW: What is the key to maintaining Canada’s global reputation as a producer of high-quality farm products? GR: Keep doing the work. You have to do the grunt work with the ministerial representatives at the bureaucratic level in every country you’re working on. You have to keep connecting the dots making sure the Australians aren’t outhustling you on beef, the Chileans aren’t outhustling you on pork, the Mexicans haven’t got some new crop. GW: What does being inducted into the Canadian Agricultur- al Hall of Fame mean to you? GR: The thing I’m most proud of is getting all aspects of any given industry in that supply chain sitting around a table talking about what needs to be done. We got the industry working har- moniously, which had never been done. GW: What does your post-politics life look like? GR: I’ve been consulting, speaking. I’m very active on Twitter, so I still get hate mail and death threats, which makes you feel alive. There’s never a day goes by I don’t think about politics and watch what’s happening and say, ‘You’re missing the boat here, buddy.’ That will never change.” “The thing I’m most proud of is getting all aspects of any given industry in that supply chain sitting around a table talking about what needs to be done.” — GERRY RITZ Photo:Courtesyof theConservativePartyofCanada