HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-10-07, Page 12Wednesday, October 7, 2015 • Huron Expositor 13
Federal candidates talk agriculture, science in Holmesville
Dave Flaherty
Goderich Signal Star
Three weeks ahead of the
federal election, Huron -
Bruce's four candidates
voiced their views on a num-
ber of agricultural issues at a
debate in Holmesville.
The debate, hosted by the
Huron Federation of Agricul-
ture, was standing room only
at the Holmesville Commu-
nity Centre on September 30.
In attendance were Con-
servative Party incumbent
Ben Lobb, the New Demo-
cratic Party's (NDP) Gerard
Creces, Liberal Party candi-
date Allan Thompson and
Jutta Splettstoesser of the
Green Party.
In his opening remarks,
Lobb said the PCs have
negotiated many free trade
agreements, such as those
with Korea and the Euro-
pean Union, that will reduce
or eliminate tariffs on "all
products grown in
Huron -Bruce':
Splettstoesser said the
Green Party is only one that
"takes a stance on all public
issues."
A German native who
immigrated to Canada,
Splettstoesser said "agricul-
ture is what brought me to
this part of the world:'
She claimed she has taken
the "Food and Water First"
pledge to show her commit-
ment to protecting Canada's
"most important resources':
The NDP will continue to
build on the success it has
had in the past few federal
elections, Creces said.
He believes Ottawa
"should follow the example
of local communities'
"We have to end the soci-
ety of entitlement," said the
former journalist for The
Goderich Signal Star and
Clinton News Record.
Thompson, a former jour-
nalist for The Toronto Star
and professor at Carleton
University, said he has a
great belief in the motto that
"farmers feed cities:'
He voiced his disappoint-
ment with what he called a
lack of discussion about
agricultural issues during
the national leader debates.
He said there needs to be
protection of "supply man-
agement" for Canadian
commodities.
The debate was divided
into written questions and
queries from the floor.
Candidates were first
asked what they feel is the
biggest issue facing the agri-
culture industry.
Lobb said his party is
committed towards
"increasing markets for
Canadian products" and
reducing or eliminating
tariffs.
He said agreements such
as the proposed TPP will
"offer farms an opportunity
to compete with interna-
tional farmers':
Cuts to AgriStability have
made the program lose its
value to farmers, Spletts-
toesser explained.
She also called for more
education on agriculture in
secondary schools.
Creces said there needs to
be more planning for the
future as the farming indus-
try is changing.
"The death of small -to -
mid -sized farms - we are
seeing that."
He said the costs of run-
ning or starting up a farming
business are astronomical.
"We have to put our heads
together and make it an
affordable business to get
into;' he added.
Thompson said farmers
need "bankable and predict-
able support" from the fed-
eral government.
To him, former Ministers
of Agriculture such as
Eugene Whalen and Don
Mazankowski had their fin-
ger of the pulse of issues that
were facing farmers at the
time, stating that the govern-
ment needs to reach out to
farmers to help develop and
shape the programs meant
to assist them.
Candidates were then
asked how their party would
support sustainability and
growth in livestock sectors,
namely beef production.
"We need to stand behind
supply management,"
Splettstoesser said, adding
Canada cannot "give up our
domestic standards for a
trade agreement."
Creces echoed this senti-
ment, adding that there is
increasing pressure from
Europe and the United
States for Canada to give in
to certain demands.
"Don't compromise our
standards," Creces said.
He also claimed smaller
abattoirs shouldn't be held
to the same standards as
large factories.
Cuts to AgriStability have
left farmers "waiting too long
for too little support",
Thompson said.
He said there needs to be
better "risk management
funding" for livestock farm-
ers as they don't have crop
insurance and supply man-
agement to fall back on.
In his view, the federal
government should be on
board for risk management
programs, such as the one
Ontario has implemented.
Lobb said a decade ago beef
farmers were "on their backs':
He said the Conservatives
have signed key deals and
that beef prices are at some
of their highest levels.
"We've done our job to pro-
tect Ontario farmers," he said.
On the topic of trade agree-
ments, Creces criticized the
PCs "lack of transparency"
when it comes to the TPP
He said trade agreements
should "add value to the
goods and shouldn't be a
hindrance."
Instead of exporting raw
commodities, Creces said
Canada should be process-
ing them and creating jobs
locally.
Thompson said as a "trad-
ing nation'; agreements such
as the TPP are needed.
However, he questioned
whether people can trust that
Stephen Harper is "protect-
ing supply management" and
claimed the PCs are keeping
"Canadians in the dark"
Lobb said the intent of
agreements such as the TPP
is to "reduce tariffs".
"I don't know how much
clearer you can be:"
He said when the Liberal
Party was in power during
the 1990s and early -2000s
they "concluded no deals of
any significance", before
claiming the past decade has
been "the best 10 years in
agriculture" in Canada's
history.
Splettstoesser said her
party is supportive of trading
but she questioned the wis-
dom of locking the country
into such long-term
agreements.
CONTINUED > PAGE 19
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