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The Rural Voice, 2004-11, Page 12Entertaining Informative Economical Give `Rural Voice The gift that comes 12 times a year! See page 47 for details 8 THE RURAL VOICE Jeffrey Carter Urban needs rural (and vice -versa) Jeffrey Carter is a freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario. Here's how Lawrence Solomon portrays Canada's farmers, fisher- men, and rural residents in his column published on April 14 in The National Post: ... Rural Canadians are dispro- portionately fat for many reasons ... Many middle managers in cities get more exercise rushing between appointments than that of today's farmers and fishermen, whose work consists of sitting in a cab of a harvester or the wheelhouse of a boat. ... Because rural workers so often feel trapped in their employment, and rely on subsidies that alienate them from the real economy, they are disproportionately depressed. Rural folk drink and smoke more, too. Solomon, executive director of the Urban Renaissance Institute, goes on to blame rural subsidies for the high tax rate faced by urbanites and sug- gests the government programs for farmers translate into cheap food and the abundant number of large post- eriors among the general population. Solomon's analysis is, at best, flawed. Rural Canadians are, on average, heavier than their urban counterpart, but not appreciably so. Concerning subsidization, it is the farmers themselves who provide the great level of subsidization for the food system by supporting their farming "habit" with off -farm jobs. Uninformed pundits might best be ignored. It's another matter, however, when a government appears to embrace such views. Premier Dalton McGuinty had high praise for The Panel on the Role of Government which released the report, Investing in People: Creating a Human Capital Society for Ontario, earlier this year. Part of that report, which was commissioned by the previous Tory government, calls for the abandonment of economic development programs in rural Ontario. To be fair, McGuinty has not formally adopted the report's recommendations. Yet recent cuts to Tong -term economic infrastructure programs for rural Ontario would suggest he's moving in that direction. The drainage program and the dairy and pork infrastructure supports come immediately to mind. As part of its Tong -term vision, the report recommends that economic development programs for "small, rural and remote communities" be phased out and that retraining be offered to younger people and workers in these areas who are "willing to pursue opportunities beyond their home communities." A background paper to the Investing in People report expands on the theme of rural decay in a manner that suggests its authors had intent- ionally slanted their argument. The only rural Ontario strength that's noted is the low cost of housing. There's little reference to agriculture and no mention of remarkable gains in agri- cultural production over the years. The E.uggestion that rural Ontario is a burden for the province's big urban areas must be countered by farmers and their representative organization. As Elbert Van Donkersgoed, a policy advisor with the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, points out: "Our urban centers enjoy symbiotic relationships with our countryside, towns and small cities that wrap around them." Rural Ontario is far more than a handy receptacle for big city garbage. Agriculture is the province's second largest industry. That industry would be a mere a shadow of itself if not for the farm community. That said, there is some truth in the idea that the economic viability of some (though not all) of Ontario's rural communities is tenuous. However, to unilaterally remove government and societal support for rural infrastructure will move the entire province backwards. Greater civilizations than ours have fallen after their agricultural foundations were compromised.0 PASSPORT PHOTOS WHILE YOU WAIT Guaranteed to meet government specifications We also do • Home movie transfers to video or DVD • Foreign tape conversions • Regular 8 or Super 8 film A'Wondafut Christmas Gift For your Charm MAC CAMPBELL PHOTOGRAPHY 34 Newgate Street (Corner of Hamilton & Newgate) Goderich 519-524-7532 i Entertaining Informative Economical Give `Rural Voice The gift that comes 12 times a year! See page 47 for details 8 THE RURAL VOICE Jeffrey Carter Urban needs rural (and vice -versa) Jeffrey Carter is a freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario. Here's how Lawrence Solomon portrays Canada's farmers, fisher- men, and rural residents in his column published on April 14 in The National Post: ... Rural Canadians are dispro- portionately fat for many reasons ... Many middle managers in cities get more exercise rushing between appointments than that of today's farmers and fishermen, whose work consists of sitting in a cab of a harvester or the wheelhouse of a boat. ... Because rural workers so often feel trapped in their employment, and rely on subsidies that alienate them from the real economy, they are disproportionately depressed. Rural folk drink and smoke more, too. Solomon, executive director of the Urban Renaissance Institute, goes on to blame rural subsidies for the high tax rate faced by urbanites and sug- gests the government programs for farmers translate into cheap food and the abundant number of large post- eriors among the general population. Solomon's analysis is, at best, flawed. Rural Canadians are, on average, heavier than their urban counterpart, but not appreciably so. Concerning subsidization, it is the farmers themselves who provide the great level of subsidization for the food system by supporting their farming "habit" with off -farm jobs. Uninformed pundits might best be ignored. It's another matter, however, when a government appears to embrace such views. Premier Dalton McGuinty had high praise for The Panel on the Role of Government which released the report, Investing in People: Creating a Human Capital Society for Ontario, earlier this year. Part of that report, which was commissioned by the previous Tory government, calls for the abandonment of economic development programs in rural Ontario. To be fair, McGuinty has not formally adopted the report's recommendations. Yet recent cuts to Tong -term economic infrastructure programs for rural Ontario would suggest he's moving in that direction. The drainage program and the dairy and pork infrastructure supports come immediately to mind. As part of its Tong -term vision, the report recommends that economic development programs for "small, rural and remote communities" be phased out and that retraining be offered to younger people and workers in these areas who are "willing to pursue opportunities beyond their home communities." A background paper to the Investing in People report expands on the theme of rural decay in a manner that suggests its authors had intent- ionally slanted their argument. The only rural Ontario strength that's noted is the low cost of housing. There's little reference to agriculture and no mention of remarkable gains in agri- cultural production over the years. The E.uggestion that rural Ontario is a burden for the province's big urban areas must be countered by farmers and their representative organization. As Elbert Van Donkersgoed, a policy advisor with the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, points out: "Our urban centers enjoy symbiotic relationships with our countryside, towns and small cities that wrap around them." Rural Ontario is far more than a handy receptacle for big city garbage. Agriculture is the province's second largest industry. That industry would be a mere a shadow of itself if not for the farm community. That said, there is some truth in the idea that the economic viability of some (though not all) of Ontario's rural communities is tenuous. However, to unilaterally remove government and societal support for rural infrastructure will move the entire province backwards. Greater civilizations than ours have fallen after their agricultural foundations were compromised.0