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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-09-09, Page 10M.l 10 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1987. Whelan tells farmers to fight for marketing boards Former agriculture minister Eugene Whelan told farmers to fight to keep their marketing boards under free trade negotiations when he spoke at Holmesville last week to a full house meeting. Eugene Whelan, former federal agriculture minister urged farmers to fight to protect supply managed marketing boards from being harmed in free trade discussion with the United States when he addressed an overflow audience of about 300 at a meeting in Holmes­ ville Thursday night. “This is yours,’’ he said. “You foughtforit. Don’t believe any­ body (when they assure marketing boards aren ’t on the discussion table). Make your voices heard. Be active.’’ The meeting was organized by the Supply Managed Commodities Committee, a group of producers whohavebeen meeting over the last year to discuss the problems free trade could cause for their marketing boards. Also speaking at the meeting were Nelson Coyle, information officer for the Cana­ dian Chicken Marketing Agency and Jack Riddell, Ontario Agricul­ ture Minister. Nico Peters Progressive Conser­ vative candidate in the Sept. 10 provincial election and Paul Klopp, the NDP candidate in the election were not part of the panel on stage but were invited to make short presentations after the three on­ stage speakers had made their opening statements. Two federal Conservative MPs, Sid Fraleigh of Lambton and Dr. Harry Brightwell of Perth refused to take part in the debate after earlier agreeing to take part. In letters read at the meeting they expressed disappointment in the format of the meeting saying it would give a platform to one party in the Ontario provincial election to the detriment of others, including the representative of their own party. They said they would be happy to attend a debate after the Ontario election. In their absence, Mr. Peters was the lone defender of free trade. He said the farmers can ’ t afford to lose markets in the United States to protectionist actions. He reminded the audience that one third of the food produced in Ontario is exported. “We have to negotiate to keep markets we have,’’ he said. He warned that a multitude of trade bills to protect American producers are pending in the U.S. and lack of an agreement could see them put into force. As a beginning farmer he had fought haru iu *. t his quota in the poultry industry, he said, and his party would protect quota systems and their underpinning. Mr. Klopp said free trade might be a good deal for big business interests but it was a bad deal for working people and family farm­ ers. He said that only a few areas are currently threatened by Ameri­ can protectionism and wondered if a free trade deal would really help those, pointing out Israel has a free trade agreement with the U.S. but still is subject to countervailing measures of the U.S. Congress. Free trade laws might prevent Ontario from applying dynamic economic policies, he warned. Mr. Riddell, in a hard-hitting speech, warned of the dangers in a free trade agreement that didn’t protect supply managed commodi­ ties and the “underpinnings’’, including controls on the amount of foreign product that can be imported and tariffs on imports. Free trade could lead to large, vertically integrated corporations in food production, he said. “When I look south of the border and see the alternative to our marketing system I say thanks but no thanks,” he said. He said if marketing boards are allowed to remain but border controls are negotiated away it could mean surplus U.S. eggs could be dumped into Canada. Since our system makes producers pay the cost of removing surpass­ es it would hurt Canadian egg producers, he said. FITNESS IS FUN- When You Work at Your Own Pace! ‘ 7t syour body and it has to last a lifetime. Exercise with Program Drusilla Leitch Tuesday - Evenings Door open 7:45 Exercises 8 - 9:15 Grey Central School Ethel, Ontario. Tuesday September Registration and Exercise 7:30 P.M. 10 Weeks - $20.00 Men are Welcome! For information call 887-6192 In the dairy industry, yogurt and ice cream imports can only be controlled by tariffs. Take away the tariffs and Canada could be flooded with U.S. product. At the same time, he says, Canadians wouldn’t have access to U.S. markets because of an import quota system that makes it almost impossible for Canadian products to flow south. He went on to describe many different problems free trade could bring in each of the supply-man­ aged sectors then warned farmers that it’s their future that’s at stake and they should get involved. Mr. Coyle presented a detailed address talking about the specific aspects of negotiations that could effect supply-managed commodi­ ties. Loss of tariffs on further- processed meat products could hurt the chicken industry where this is a major growth area, he said. Loss of the 15 per cent duty on yogurt and 12.5 per cent duty on ice cream could mean imported pro­ ducts take away the Canadian market. Currently 14.1 per cent of industrialized milk in Ontario goes into the manufacture of the two products. But the star of the night was Mr. Whelan, proving over and over to a laughing audience that he still knows how to tickle farmers’ funnybones. He said there is no such things as a free traders, only somebody who has a surplus of something and wants you to take it. He said he couldn’t understand why farmers aren’t doing more to fight the proposals, that farmers had a right to be concerned. He pointed to the U.S. where many industries have moved south to Child injured in ATV mishap A seven-year-old Goderich boy was taken to University Hospital in Londonon Saturday following a spill from an all-terrain vehicle driven by his brother, treated for a number of scrapes and bruises, and later released. Timothy Good of East Street, Goderich, was a passenger on the ATV driven by Jeffrey Good, nine, which was travelling across a bean field on private property at Lot 35, Concession 1, East Wawanosh Township. According to a spokes­ man for the Wingham detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, the elder boy lost control of the machine which veered into a cornfield and rolled over. Both children were thrown from the vehicle, and Timothy was taken to hospital by his father, while Jeffrey suffered only minor cuts and scrapes. The ATV is owned by Edgar Daer of RR 1, Auburn. No charges have been laid as a result of the incident. where rules are tailored so much to business that there is virtually slave labour because wages were so low. Canada will have to compete with those conditions, he said. He said there is a misconception that supply management farmers are inefficient but he pointed out that prices of supply-managed commodities have risen less than non-supply-management commo­ dities. Supply management farm­ ers are paying their bills with the feed dealers and the fuel dealers and keeping the community heal­ thy, he said. The Canadian dairy industry has the most disease free herd in the world and has the highest produc­ tion per cow ever, he said while across the border in New York and Michigan the industry is in a state of chaos. He said Americans are living in a dreamland when they think that if only subsidies are eliminated Europeans will be eating American chicken again. The U.S. can never win a trade war against the Common Market with 360 million people and governments that are in good shape financially. He later warned that much of the export success of Canadian farm­ ers in the red meat industry in recent years has been because of the low value of the Canadian dollar. If the dollar goes up, exports will go down, he said. The poultry industry hasn’t been subsidized since it got money to conduct a plebiscite for a market­ ing board in 1972, he said. While the red meat industry cries for free trade he asked how long they’d thought they’d be allowed to export to the U.S. while receiving tri-partide stabilization. He warned farmers not to trust the word of negotiators. He said he remembered Simon Reisman from his days as a federal bureaucrat and “I wouldn’t trust Simon Reisman as far as I could throw a PART-TIME AND CONTINUING EDUCATION PRESENTS: COURSESOFFERED IN BRUSSELSTHIS FALL CHILD DEVELOPMENT...................................................$77 Wednesday, September 23, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 20 wks. MUNICIPAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT [UNIT 3].... $45 Thursday, September 17, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 12 wks. STRESS REDUCTION AND RELAXATION.....................$28 Monday, October 19, 7:00-9:00 p.m., 7 wks. CONVERSATIONAL FRENCH I......................................$44 Tuesday, September 29, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 12 wks. CALLIGRAPHY.................................................................$31 Wednesday, September 30, 7:30-10:00 p.m., 10 wks. OIL PAINTING FOR BEGINNERS......................................... Tuesday, September 29, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 10 wks. SOCIAL DANCING...........................................................$43 Wednesday, September 30, 7:30-10:00 p.m., 10 wks. BOOKKEEPING FUNDAMENTALS..............................$40 Monday, September 28, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 12 wks. BOOKKEEPING/ACCOUNTING...................................$40 Monday, September 28, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 12 wks. WATERCOLOURS............................................................$75 Tuesday, September 29, 7:00-10:00 p.m., 12 wks. You may register either by mail or in person. For further information, please contact the Clinton Continuing Education Office between 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Friday. CONESTOGACOLLEGE-CLINTON CAMPUS VanastraRd., P.O. Box 160 Clinton, Ontario N0M1L0 [519)482-3458 Conestoga College of Applied Arts andlechnology 1400-pound overweight steer bv the tail.” In a question period at the end of the meeting Mr. Riddell suggested farmers should send letters to Mr. Reisman to state their opposition to sacrifice marketing boards or their underpinnings at free trade nego­ tiations. Mr. Coyle agreed but said letters should also be sent to Prime Minister Mulroney and Agricul­ ture Minister John Wise. Phone calls to MPs are also important ways of expressing concern. Mr. Whelan suggested hand written letters, saying one hand­ written letter tells a politician that 500 other people are thinking the same way as the writer. He suggested sending a copy to John Turner, Leader of the Opposition as well. Free trade rally postponed Continued from page 1 for the Parliament Hill rally, he said. After the Holmesville meet­ ing about 35 to 40 people had come forward to say they’d prepared to go to Ottawa, he said. The farmers had planned to demonstrate in support of Agriculture Minister John Wise’s promise that supply management marketing boards and their underpinning of border controls and tariffs would be protected. Mr. Calder said the group stands ready to go to Ottawa should the situation change. ORCHILL FARMS & ORCHARDS EST. 1852 Walton, Ont. - Ph.523-9279 BOYD & MURIEL TAYLOR Quality apples from our Cold Storage