The Rural Voice, 2006-11, Page 21Gertie Blake
Recalls the activism of the
1980s farm crisis
made news headlines when some
farmers staged a 'farm gate defense'
and refused to leave the farm and
prevented banks and police from
repossessing machinery and
livestock. It was a time of great
unrest resulting in a huge farm
demonstration organized by OFA at
Queen's Park in Toronto in 1985,"
she wrote earlier this year in the
annual reports of the Grey and Bruce
Federations.
"The Bruce and Grey Federation
of Agriculture worked with local
farmers and government on a pilot
project that resulted in establishing a
farm debt review and bankruptcy
protection system that is still in effect
today. The Ontario Farm Interest
Rate Reduction program was
established, as well as Farm Practices
Protection legislation."
And so, over the 70 years of the
Federation, so many common themes
emerge. Once again there is a call for
a united voice for farmers, but
nobody seems to know how to
accomplish it. Once again there are
calls to government to provide
financial programs that provide
stability in the market while
governments talk of the need to let
the market make corrections
necessary.
Perhaps looking back over those
70 years there are lessons to be
learned for the leaders of all farm
organizations of today.0
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NOVEMBER 2006 17