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
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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
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