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The Rural Voice, 1986-08, Page 36TOOLS & EQUIPMENT Farm • Home - Contractor RENTALS AND SALES Get the right tools for the right job Whether building or renovating, call us at: 519-357-1666 519-482-3339 or 519-357-2335 (after hours) 286 Huron St., Hwy. 8 W., Hyw. 4, N., WINGHAM CLINTON Farm with CHARM • Alfalfa Pellets • Wood Shavings • Wire Caging • Chinchilla Grain Mix • Automatic Drinkers • Alfalfa Cubes • Custom Pellets • White or Blue Sand • Mirra-Coat • Mineral • Vitamin Tonic • Wheat Germ Oil • Collars • Pelting • 1st Quality GRADED Breeding Stock Chinchilla Charm of Canada Ltd. (519) 323.4322 R.R. 2, Mount Forest, Ont. NOG 2L0 CONCERNED ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUR FARM WOODLOT? We at J.H. Keeso and Sons Ltd. share your awareness of the value of a properly harvested woodlot. Selective cutting techniques employed by our experienced logging crew can help to assure you of a source of income now and in the future. This we feel is to our mutual benefit. We would be happy to quote you on standing or felled hardwoods towards that end. Box 250 OFFICE: Listowel, Ontario 291-4890 N4W 3H4 EVENINGS: 291-3039 291-2962 34 THE RURAL VOICE NEWS FARM DEBT REVIEW BECOMES LAW The long awaited farm debt review legislation became law on the last day of the sitting of the House before summer recess. While the new federal act provides for a review board process to be available to financially stressed farmers and their creditors, it does not fulfil the hopes of many farm groups for court ordered ar- rangements. The liaison committee of eight major Ontario farm organizations has been pressing for some time now — most visibly at a rally at John Wise's home riding in St. Thomas last November — for the courts to be empowered to im- pose a settlement where a volun- tary agreement between a farmer and creditor could not be reached. "We have been trying to achieve for farmers what was available to the business community at large," says Brigid Pyke, a vice-president of both the Ontario and Canadian Federations of Agriculture. Pyke believes the new bill, while falling short of the goals set by the farm groups, is a step in the right direction. Under the act, review boards will be established on a regional basis, with individual cases being dealt with by panels consisting of one board member and two other qualified members. The creditors of an insolvent farmer are now re- quired to give fifteen days' notice that action to redeem security will be taken, and must notify the farmer of his right to apply for a hearing with the review board. After that, an additional thirty days are given to try to arrange a settlement. Under paragraphs granting extensions, up to 120 days may be taken to reach an agree- ment. If agreement is reached, the panel will witness such, and the board may appoint a trustee to see that the terms of the agreement are met. But Pyke says that it is at this point that the legislation falls short. If no agreement can be negotiated between the farmer and the creditor, the review board does not have the authority to impose a settlement. Citing the example of the experimental Grey -Bruce Pilot Project which took place in the winter of 1984-85, Pyke noted that the financial institutions are not