The Rural Voice, 1982-02, Page 13shovelling farm policy changes at the
federal and provincial governments and
their policies pretty well co-incided with
the demands of other farm organizations.
There were of course criticisms aimed
at the new group, which always happens
when there is change of any kind.
Splinter groups are looked at askance by
organizations that have been established
since before dishwashers and an "up-
start" group was closely watched.
One of the most important contribut-
ions this group made was to bring women
out to express their ideas and concerns.
Some referred to these meetings as
"bitching sessions" but anyone keeping
a close watch on the groups could
measure a great degree of relaxation
after a concern was aired and then
promptly echoed by half a dozen other
concerned farm wives.
Some of the members had not been to a
meeting of any kind in years and were
unable to talk about themselves or their
situation in a group, but soon found
release when coupled with another
woman with the same difficulty. The
one-on-one discussion brought relief to
both. If success could be measured, the
scale would be high for this group as a
therapy session for farmers who felt
"victimized".
Almost every woman at the beginning
of their situation felt that it was their fault
and only they had these mistakes on their
record. The situation soon proved that the
feelings of the women were generally the
same and they were able to expend their
energy and frustrations with each other
and in the various activities they were
involved in. After a few meetings. some
of the women even found it possible to
approach their husbands and have a
meaningful conversation as to where they
were and where they were going. A
burden shared is a problem half -solved.
The concerned farm women were only
organized a few short months when
farmers found that the conventional,
policy in hand, routine was not bringing
results fast enough. Every week the doors
to another farm were closed and general
harrassment of the farmer by creditors
continued.
The members of the established farm
Diane Jones, [pictured here with her daughter at the Bruce County Annual
Meeting] is vice-president of the Concerned Farm Women [Photo by Bev Brown]
groups were against demonstrations and
were by this time heavily involved in the
programs they had developed to help
bring the problem to the attention of
everyone. The OFA Emergency Task
Force toured Ontario in October and
November and brought to light that a
general financial problem existed in
agriculture all over Ontario. The Ontario
Federation of Agriculture was the only
organization to get a general farm
reading from all over Ontario and the
results were indisputable.
There were still groups of farmers who
wanted to find a way to stop foreclosures
and ease the pressure of farmers under
severe financial handicaps. Several at-
tempts were made to demonstrate to
banks that their attitude was not
acceptable and one of these incidents was
a seized machinery sale. Unable to stop
the bidding and due to lack of support,
the group took a fair amount of ridicule.
This only fueled their determination to
succeed. A mass tractor demonstration at
a bank in Owen Sound demonstrated that
not only were farmers concerned, but the
business sector was definitely sympathet-
ic as they felt the same economic
pressures plus the fact the farmers were
not buying.
The Grey -Bruce Survival Association
was formed with Carl Spencer as
president. The organization's name was
changed in a matter of weeks to Canadian
Survival Association as groups from all
over Ontario joined. In a coup at Port
Elgin they were able to reverse a
banker's decision to seize livestock and
machinery and actually had the seizure
reversed in a matter of hours with
demonstrators all over Port Elgin. It was
the only demonstration up to this point
where the results were immediate. The
group quickly gathered support all over
Ontario and has been kept very busy with
farmers phoning to receive counselling
and advice. Contrary to what may have
been splashed in papers, the group does
(cont. on pg. 19)
THE RURAL VOICE/FEBRUARY 1982 PG. 11