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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-10-22, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1986. PAGE 5. Grossman says Riddell's voice loud, not effective Continued from page 1 ridiculed Mr. Riddell (and con­ stantly mispronounced his name) for making headlines with his statements without backing them up withlegislation. He said Mr. Riddell had made headlines an­ nouncing a toll-free, 24-hour Help­ line for farmers needing counsell­ ing then later told a group of farmers he had not expected the Helpline to be used very much. In opposition, he said, Mr. Riddell had called the OMAF (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food) News, “the ultimate form of junk mail’’ and demanded the government get out of the newspaper business. Butin the first issue of the paper after the Liberals took power, Mr. Riddell’s name had appeared 12 times on the front page and the paper still appears regularly. Mr. Riddell, he said, had stated there would have to be a reassess- mentofthe OMAFstafftosee if they had the interests of the farm community at heart but there had been no purge, he said. There had not been one signifi­ cant Liberal initiative since the Lions to help Ron Nesbitt Continued from page 1 Dublin, Seaforth, Clinton, God­ erich, Auburn and Blyth have already sent in promises of sub­ stantial funding as well as offers of personnel, and several prominent individuals have promised contri­ butions to the novelty auction, which will be a highlight of the day. Mr. Overboe says that he himself has had an offer of $200 for his luxurious beard, and Peter Hardy, president of the Toronto Blue Jays, who maintains a home near the village, has offered to get “some Blue Jay items’’ to auction off. As well, Keith Cartwright, Londesboro Lions Club President Howard Cartwright’s brother, has offered to bring the famous Forest City Flyers basketball team to town for an exhibition game as part of the fqnd raising, although Mr. Overboe says this will have to be held on another day, since Novem­ ber 29 is already jam-packed with events. Keith Cartwright is a member of the Flyers, the famous parapalegic team from London. All the events of “Back the Biter Day ’ ’ have been planned for family fun, and include a day-long talent show, euchre parties, a box social auction, and the novelty auction. Admission to all will be by donation, and both the Blyth school and the Blyth Memorial Hall will be used to stage the events. “We’ve got a heck of a lot to do, but don’t ever underestimate the spirit of Londesboro!’’ Mr. Over­ boe said. Anyone wishing to donate cash or talent to the day may contact Mr. Overboe at 523-4416 any evening. OFFIRR program, and it is due to be wound down in 1988, Mr. Grossman claimed. Farmers are the victims of forces beyond their control in trying to battle export subsidies of the European Economic Community and the effects of the United States Farm Bill he said, and he expects the situation to continue to be bleak until the 1992 to 1994 period. He compared Ontario’s 10.5 per cent agricultural budget increase in a time of crisis to the 100 per cent Wise challenges province to match aid Continued from page 1 if approached by Ontario * ‘with the proper figures ... on tabulated damage.’’ He explained that a program of spot financial assistance is avail­ able through federal/provincial funding, once the province has declared a disaster. Using the formula of $1 per capita for Ontario’s8.5millionpeople, he said that if the province kicks in Crop insurance review plan gets green light The Federal and Ontario govern- ments have agreed to set up a committee to review the operation of the Canada/Ontario Crop Insur­ ance Program which has been coming under heavy fire lately from farmers suffering heavy losses from weather-related crop damage. Growers have complain­ ed that the present program is expensive and ineffective. The announcement was met with enthusiasm from the Huron Federation of Agriculture, which passed a resolution to set up a committee to supply input towards just such a review at its annual meeting in Brussels October 9. The new committee will appar­ ently supercede an insurance review committee appointed by provincial agriculture minister Jack Riddell after the Ontario Federation of Agriculture issued a critical brief on the program last winter. Despite conflicting reports of the activities of this committee, no announcement has been made of its outcome. Speaking to farmers near Exeter on Friday, Federal Minister of Correction in wheat stabilization BY BRIAN HALL FARM MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST FOR HURON COUNTY The eligibility of spring wheat on the Winter Wheat Stabilization has been changed. Hard red spring and soft spring are not eligible. Farmers who have submitted application forms, that included spring wheat, should notify the Farm Income Stabilization Com­ mission, OMAF, Legislative Buildings, Queen’s Park, Toronto M7A 1B7. Indicate the number of tonnes of spring wheat that was included with the winter wheat. Adjustments can then be made on fees paid. increase in expenditures for Alber­ ta and 75 per cent increase for Saskatchewan. He promised a Conservative government would bring in a Family Farm Security Act which would guarantee prices at 10 per cent over stabilization levels for 1985-86. There would also be provision for setting aside margi­ nal land. Later, he promised, a formula would be developed to link income support payments closer to the cost of production. with the first $8.5 million, the federal government will match it, and in some cases exceed the amount of provincial funding. ‘ ‘This has been done four or five times in the past 24 months in other provinces, and on every occasion, the approach has been success­ ful,” Mr. Wise said. He added that “the province might do well to consider a larger designation (of funds) ’ ’, which may in turn trigger Agriculture John Wise said that the task force had been implemen­ ted at this time to take advantage of the high degree of interest in the shortfalls of the present program. “When things are going well, you can’t get anyone to talk about it (crop insurance); but maybe we canusethistimetoexpedite the changes required,” he said. “I’m happy to join with the provincial minister in establishing this task force to expedite amend­ ments to the plan, to bring it up to date, to make it more acceptable, more useful to Ontario farmers.” Allbore Elevators Ltd. We have all the requirements for elevating, drying & storing your Corn and Soybeans WE ARE AGENTS FOR CANOLA SEERS •Fast & Efficient Unloading *2 Unload Pits •Wagon Dumpers »New Unloading Pit for Soybeans *Open 24 Hours •Trucking Available Londesboro, Ont. 523-4-470 Mr. Grossman also hit out at Mr. Riddell’s statement on the day he was sworn in as Minister of Agriculture that Mr. Grossman, a Jew, might have trouble in rural Ontario because of a racist feeling. He invited his audience to show Mr. Riddell in the next election that his terming of rural people as racist is offensive. He said he knew there wasn’t one person in Huron County who would change the way he voted because of religion. He urged his audience to celebrate the second program, the federal/ provincial Disaster Relief Pro­ gram, which provides payment for things not normally insurable. When asked if he could give any indication of how much of the $1 billion in federal farm assistance announced by Agriculture Canada last week might be targeted to Ontario, Mr. Wise suggested that the amount might depend upon the provinces donation. “The (provinces) have their own In an inspection tour of damaged crops in Huron County earlier this month, Mr. Riddell repeatedly criticized farmers for not entering complaints against the crop insur­ ance program before they faced a total wipe-out, as many have done this year. “Farmers themselves are pretty much to blame for the situation (with the program)” he said. Details of the review commit­ tee’s terms of reference, its size, and where public hearings will be held will be announced within three orfour weeks, Mr. Wise said. with him next election night by proving Mr. Riddell was wrong. The dinner was part of the first fundraising event of the newly organized Huron Progressive Con­ servative Riding Association. Due to redistribution the two ridings in Huron will become one at the next election. Mr. Riddell has already said he will contest the riding for the Liberals while Murray Elston, currently representing Huron- Bruce, will move north to Bruce riding. priorities, and the ability to decide what priority they want to place on agriculture, and what priority they want to place on farmers, who, through no fault of their own, (require aid),” the minister said. “Asa federal government, we are not going to stand by and see farmers go down the tube.” In his final statement to the farmers near Exeter, Mr. Wise said that a meeting with the Ontario Bean Marketing Board in London last week had resulted in the authorization for the Board to provide an initial payment of $445.70 per tonne of beans harves­ ted, up from the original payment of $280 per tonne. In addition to boosting the initial payment to give producers the cash they so badly need, the federal government will guarantee the bean board’s operating costs to enable it to market the crop decimated by at least 65 per cent as a result of the incessant rain. In an interview following the agriculture minister’s visit, Bev Hill, ofHill & Hill Farms Ltd. of Varna, and a member of the six-man disaster committee, said that he felt Mr. Wise’s response had been favourable. “We are optimistic that there will be some sort of assistance provided,” he said. “Hopefully, it will be provided in time.”