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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1981-06-10, Page 15a FRUSTRATED MINISTER—Attempts by Ontario's Minister of Agriculture and Food, Lorne Henderson, to address a meeting sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture in Toronto Thursday were constantly interrupted by comments from angry farmers. (Photo by Gunby) BY HERB SHOVELLER More than 900 angry Ontario farmers including many from Huron and Perth gathered in Toronto Thurs- day and jeered and called down federal and provincial government ministers when A Dramatic Demonstration 16 ORA',11111r ii ti i ,t '{tit \\ 'ill mental or physical disabilities cannot patnl ii";•. , A •-• • -\ mbolk n.I. .1)1111, IMO nationdl 'rear, we've done somethii Ni it Ow ph ed a television com.mercial just to ‘,• the le, oi 1 /4 1 TI', Tic \ ed in our production. 42 are mental4 ‘,1 Ph \ di.ablec I among them. the director, the camera- man, ill, •er )0 and the c atpenters, the elec trician, the make-up artist, the sound engineer, the iimiounc er. many of the musicians and the man who wrote the music, who \vas deaf - but is better remembered for being Beethoven. If you've seen the commercial, you've seen-what happens when we work together. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a dramatic demonstration of A single simple point: disabled people should he thought of for what they can do, rather than what they can't. Our slogan, created by a man with a disability. sums it up and says it all: "label us able Margaret Birch William Davis Provincial Secretary for Premier Social Development International Year . of Disabled Persons Ontane ..... SEAFORTH FARMERS' CO-OP Fertilizers, Agricultural Chemicals, Feeds; Farm Supplies, Hardware 527-0770 Seaforth 0 OP • Once.milkweed and Canada thistle enter your beans or'grain'crops, they can develop into a serious problem in almost no time at all: But you can control these tough weeds - right in the-cf.op --with-a--spot tfeatMent of Roundup® herbicide by. Monsanto: Just spray-Roundup in the infested areas when the weeds have reached the proper stage of growth.* Roundup knocks out the weeds right down to the roots - so they won't grow back. 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DIETZ LIMITED Purina.thow -4 Sanitation Products-- Seed Corn — Provimi Feeds Ventilation (Wholesale & Retail) Pesticides — Spraying Equipment "7, SEAFORTH, ONTARIO NOK 1WO Phone 519-527-0608 THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JUNE 10, 1981 A15 ers ask c!9 ministers for aid "There has to be an aware- industry has not been forced ness that part of the problem under supply management." lies with the industry itself." he wondered. "Most I talk: to The Premier described the want farm management." intent of the government Mr. VanTrigt challenged representatives at the sent- consumer organizations as Mat% , well, "The constuner Assn- •• "flu here to say there are ciatiotfr.. wants input •cin ,g9r liplktattons.,,.that a. .gover,ar. 'A II1.4.t.A • * merit 40,411 fAct.OP419:0:°',A$ r t, '144.;illip ik e 440-0.14:1440;#. ,44r,,P07;eitIpticl:*.Sitsr.Pivr.grto ;4.1.k; faPAOrs' . ttoarit-•..ttod. • c)1T tons. to.. certain, ;prob- • 10.4titp.fp.dttree•i .a,ttd a d term stability." An often mentioned rem- edy to provide an upturn in the fortunes of agriculture was a • shift to supply man- agement. particularly in the red meat industry. , Qvcr-,supply is, currently a MOT' ,And It "waS MattO-clUat. tiy:14:41t govern- Mettit .S.Pealters and :4%000- , ot;rat tti4t the regPti.libili.0.:-ftg.ttetter' 0-0.1 0:in0414:itt.t0 41Jid9 tells stilt' (41:tr4iekS:•.' Though •there.' Are, 0414,-. • tions loiriting•to that •dtree- tion. •sertain lindustrieS, not-- ably beef. have resisted r ar- kering boards and f' our simple free enterprise. It is contended that a marketing agency would regulate flow of products to market to insure farmers recover their production costs and show a profit. "Hopefully the farmers will admit they'can't manage their way. And get off their ego trip, or we're going to have- poverty on the farm." said Andre Durand, a South Huron director on the county Federation . of Agriculture. "The reason (for the current dilemma) is not interest rates. it's return on produc- tion. Milk has a quota. and they have no problems." Premier Davis touched on the issue in his address. "There's a real problem in the beef industry. Part of the solution liei in 'your hands," he told the gathering. IN CONSULTATIONOntario Treasurer Frank Miller (left) and Eugene Whelan, Federal Agriculture Minister, confer during a public meeting sponsored by the. Ontario Federation of Agritulture in Toronto last week. (Photo by aunby) they would not commit them- selves to programs to protect agriculture from high inter- ' est rates and loss production returns. Eugene Whelan, federal Minister of Agriculture., along with his provincial% counterpart. Lorne Hender- son. were targets of most of the farmers' frustration at the ,three-hour long public . flneeting'm provide the agri- ..enitural ,Ciorirrotnity With an PPPOrtitnity to;. voice its' con TtF,a•sox;9r rook. 4:4 .the receEVing , Of some of the. utter' • v$11)1e. • 01-ennet Davis; .an • -411fP.' YfIOd • • 'whO sittike briefly., slipped out of the meeting early. unscathed. Ralph. Barrie. president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), Brian Ireland, an OFA director from Bruce County and Les- lie Van Trigt. a farmer from Haldimand-Norfolk who de- scribed his concerns about his future in farming. pre- sented the farmers' position. Glenn Platen, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, also spoke. Though other issues such as foreign ownership were ' touched upon. staggering in- terst rates and inequitable returns on production re- mained the main issues of dispute Throughout • climb in tot. I Henderson h.. pros iding reit. I concern. ant' appeared to h... .8 him, After art , • , L (fttawa. ts1.r S,IN co8,5tAixtty 0. ss t..); et ., 1.. I a fl'S*er; 9qt."41"tr': 11011.. iritertSt rate5 %• .'• ,sbots.'sve-re: sta. rtiViffc.e: Mr • L'• .itt thy 'few he did ter. ' is't1; S1';8!Ai g g:4 11:111hi:i ;•1 r t i; When1 Mr. He , gam hi\ brio '4 r, address. J r, the government I .fs tii respond to prrtm s ay see them.- at, t ar „it hollered "Bull LETS I SI is Later, she ,pitt ed the governthela .t a , terested and. t..! t.. hear from the :arp lilt meeting, anon ,.. alti11, member interrulc "High interes , , rain about it." 'I agree. ! 0,, t it* Henderson. going to has, •• I. ,1,1•0 1 minister here 1, W ., LISS them. passim,. 't-. miL I. challenged anoth„, • Id rmet Twice during ht. rite 111111 ute address man Mr. Barris / all the audience lt , wiirt arid t hi n Mr Henderson sat .1' DA it he rei..eii.ed scattered .ippl.iust sprinkled with a.. 50.411 .horus of boos. Mr -Ireland. the third aker of the afternoon. set tone for the farmers', ,onvgt.r with his .openin re marks •14ve are .fatitiers,.. riot ti0.e /9 be kept in the daric on a diet Of fturse,• - .• „ . SI*14.00tES.S'- an:;' inferviess' 'inter r ' Ireland. issued a cooler ses (if. the nieetitit S • wuttess. '"hl .wouid• thoi.x sire. made some progress. They shossed concern by sending the premier and minister -here We seemed to get some kind of commit ment from Frank Miller”. and managed to score a few 'brownie points.- -For Mr. Barrie. the sue- ..vss of the meeting will only he measured after discuss- ton with the government .a.cr the next month. "This A as really r scential for us," he es'plained in an interview tollowing.adjOurnment; ''The secret in negotiating with the government" is in proving "we are speaking for the people." The solid turnout Thursday ,provided the evi- dence. Still. he admitted. the talks will be difficult. "Frank Miller is a pretty astute guy. He's not-going to put allot of money into short term sub- sidies for the sake of long lems. but we can't solve them all." He echoed Mr. Hender son's comments on interest rates. saying they were a product of the "policy of the government of this country." "I can assure you we are premed. with the assistance of the farm community, to take some steps," added the premier. "But they have , to be logical, they have to work, and they have to assist those in genuine need." - LUCKY ONES Next Mr. Ireland told the audience he had lost S60,000.in, 1980, which meant his family 'of six lived on S13,000 last year. "I can't afford to be this generous for another year." he said "and I'm still one of the lucky ones." Along with government, Mr. Ireland also brought lending • institutions under fire. "If the banks are such good corporate citizens." he asked, "Why, are they runtr--- ing ads in the dailies to upgrade their image?" He emphasized Ontario "day to day costs." He, too. urged 'that pork producers form a supply management agency. "1 fail to understand why the hog design the best •marketing system available." "We need farmers to pull together, a united front for what we want, because farmers are fragmented." Mr. Whelan, "noting there was no one villain in the agricultural problem. added On all sectqrs of farming are suffering. "I've had, no• let- ters from egg producers. broilers or dairy." he said. "If these prople are having problems, they're not telling me." Use Roundup® to controissitall patches of milkweed and Canada thistle before they become big problems. the food store board..._"_. SON IS FARMER Mr. Miller opened his remarks by telling farmer's his son has been farming for eight years and he has yet to break even. The minister said he owned 49 per cent of his son's operation, so was quite familiar with the prob- lems facing agriculture. Mr. Miller pledged 'to work "hard in the next two to three weeks" to find solu- tions. Mr. Flaten. CFA presi- dent, acknowledged the gov- ernment and banks are not the sole, culprits in the cur- rent predicament. "In fair- ness." he explained, "some farmers have expanded be, yond their range of capabil- ities." • The president also stress- ed many sectors of the industry would be more stable if they had a market- ing structure. "Farmers must remember that to get a degree of stability goes hand in hand with giving up certain freedoms." "All of Us agree that the Icing term solution muSt•be to farmers' 'anger over equal get adequate return from the i7a00/ PaPlraltalI eral goVernment ''Ontario' order to do that. we must pays $1.5 billion into the billion. receives $1.8 Mr. Van Trigt, a lifetime farmer, told the audience he Was contemplating whether to quit farming because he is being pinched by low mark- ets and high interest. He said he had taken a job as a crop insurance agent to Cover his -.* • IP Lk