The Rural Voice, 2000-12, Page 60HURON
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Website: www.ofa.on.caihuron Email: huron@ofa.on.ca
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
• The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
in Huron County by the HCFA.
Farmers deliver message to The Hill
More than 1,000 Ontario farmers
traveled to Parliament Hill, November
9 to deliver the message to all of the
Federal party leaders, here for their
televised debate, that agriculture must
be given top priority by the next federal
government.
"As the leaders of the parties discuss
and debate their visions of Canada's
future, I can only hope they are
thinking of our future," said. Bill
Mailloux, Vice -President of the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture (OFA), as he
kicked off the rally.
"How come governments make
more money off our food than we do?"
asked OFA President Jack Wilkinson.
as he outlined the breakdown of the
cost of a recent $12 luncheon he
attended. He said the food for the meal
cost $1.22, but the taxes collected by
the federal and provincial governments
totaled $1.47. "Is that right?" he
questioned; "No!" the crowd yelled
back; "Are we going to do something
about it?" to which the crowd
responded with a loud "Yes!"
"Now, we've got a choice as
farmers in Ontario. We can either take
that and we can roll over and play dead,
and we can go out of business. Or, we
can say `No more. No more! We have
done this long enough'," Wilkinson
said. The farmers said they were
prepared to keep fighting to get the
country's government to increase its
level of funding for farm safety net
programs to a level that would bring
them equal to what farmers in the
United States receive from their
government.
Bob Friesen, President of the
Canadian Federation of Agriculture,
told the rally that "Canadian farmers
continue to live with unprecedented
low farm income levels. They have
experienced decreases of 40 to 60 per
cent in some commodity prices and a
37 per cent increase in farm input costs
over the past 10 years.
"Governments in other countries
have been sensitive to the plight of their
farmers, and have increased domestic
support to their farmers to make sure
their farmers make it through this very
crippling period. Our (Canadian)
farmers stand largely alone," Friesen
said. As Canada's farmers attempt to
compete with the treasuries of these
other countries, they are realizing
"these factors are creating a crippling
environment within which it is
absolutely impossible to survive."
Leaders from the Ontario Corn
Producers' Association, the Ontario
Soybean Growers, and the Ontario
Wheat Producers' Marketing Board
also spoke to the crowd in Ottawa.
Resolutions sent to OFA convention
The following two resolutions were
presented and approved at the
Annual/Regional meeting of the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture and
will be brought forward at the Annual
OFA Convention in Toronto November
20, 21, 2000.
1. WHEREAS the bylaws of OFA refer
to the principle of equitable
representation by population and
WHEREAS the OFA Annual meeting
is designed for the general membership
to voice its opinion with respect to their
General Farm Organization and
WHEREAS regions do not have an
equal amount of members
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that
delegates to the OFA Annual meeting
be elected so they represent an equal
number of members rather than by
56 THE RURAL VOICE
regions as it is done now.
2. WHEREAS investment in Ontario's
agricultural support programs is not
competitive with investment in U.S.
and Quebec income support programs,
and
WHEREAS Quebec's investment for
income support and stabilization
(ASRA) programs far exceeds similar
investment by Ontario, and
WHEREAS the Ontario provincial
government has made a commitment
"to work with the federal government
to ensure our farmers are competing on
a level playing field."
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that
the OFA co-ordinate discussion
amongst commodity groups in
investigating an ASRA-like program
for Ontario.0
Wilkinson urged farmers across the
province to question all of the
candidates for the November 27, 2000,
vote and make sure they are prepared to
support improvements to programs for
farmers before they cast their ballot.0
Brief Notes
FOUND: On table at Huron Centennial
School, Brucefield, after the ALL
CANDIDATE meeting: Black
Clipboard Folder with insignia
"Ontario Cattle Feeders Association"
on cover, includes minutes of a May
meeting. To claim call the Huron
Federation of Ag. office Monday or
Friday.
The Huron Farm Hiker tour was again
a success this year. The Federation
would like to thank our director Barry
Elliott and the Lucknow Agricultural
Society for co-ordinating it.
The Annual Ontario Federation of
Agriculture Convention will be held in
Toronto on Monday, Tuesday,
November 20, 21, 2000. Delegates
representing Huron County will be:
Charles Regele, Dave Lewington, Neil
Vincent, Will Stafford, Pat Down,
Victor Roland, Walter Elliott, Wayne
Hamilton, Janet Boot, Evert Ridder and
Paul Klopp.0
SeasonsGreetings
The Huron County Federation
of Agriculture would like to
wish all Huron County farmers
and their families a "Happy,
Healthy Holiday Season."
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