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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFarming '88, 1988-03-30, Page 44PAGE 20. FARMING ’88, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30. 1988. Good or bad? Free Trade debate continues The debate on the effect of Free Trade on the Canadian economy and particularly on farming continues to smoulder even if the fire has gone out of the debate with the federal government’s overcoming of provincial opposition. Here two views of the effect of Free Trade. Murray Cardiff, M.P. for Huron-Bruce states what he feels are the benefits of the deal for local people. In a second article, Raye Anne Briscoe, Ontario Regional Co-ordinator for the National Farmers Union states that already some indications are appearing that the deal will break even marketing boards in the drive for free market concepts. Good Our country was built on foreign trade. Agreement will ensure free flow of goods Bad BY MURRAY CARDIFF M.P. Huron-Brace Canadians know from experi­ ence that trade brings great benefits to all. Our country was built on it. Foreign trade is the basis of our current prosperity. In fact, exports account for roughly 30 per cent of our income and trade with the United States, our biggest customer by far, brings in roughly a quarter of every dollar we earn. Forthepast50years, Canada has been seeking to gradually reduce barriers to trade through bilateral and multilateral negotia­ tions. The new trade agreemen t that has been negotiated with the United States is the most signifi­ cant step in this process - a process that will ensure that trade with our major partner will flow more freely and securely by the end of the 20th century. It is an Agreement designed to prepare Canada for the 21st century. The Agreement will: • ensure our industries can grow from their Canadian base; • encourage new investment in world-class Canadian enter­ prise; •create a more stable and certain framework for co-operative rela­ tions between Canada and the Continued on page 21 MURRAY CARDIFF M.P. 'Changed circumstances' from agreement will hurt Canadian farmers The “changed circumstances’’ resulting from implementation of the Free Trade deal with the U.S. will prove to be as much a concern to Canadian farmers as the Free Trade Agreement itself, says Raye-Anne Briscoe of the National Farmers Union. In a presentation to the Ontario Government in Toronto on March 8, Briscoe the Ontario Regional Co-ordinator of the NFU said the drawbacks of the agreement “far outweigh any minor or short term advantages that may accrue to individual sectors’’ of the Agricul­ tural industry. Noting that the Canadian government has traditionally ac­ cepted the concept of orderly marketing and supply manage­ ment for farm commodities, Bris­ coe said the U.S. has always promoted so-called free market policies. As a result, she contin­ ued, vertical integration and in­ dustrialization of agriculture have taken place at an extremely rapid pace in the U.S. as compared to Canada. “This is particularly evident in such commodities as broiler chick­ ens, turkeys and eggs’’ she explained. “Our production of these commodities is patterned to Continued on page 23 SPRING LUBRICANT DISCOUNT EFFECTIVE APRIL 1/88 TO MAY 31/88 Save 10-15%litre ON VOLUME PURCHASES For Reliable Farm Service Call... Rowe Fuels Rowe Fuels Seaforth, Ontario Serving Seaforth, Exeter, Brussels and Surrounding Area