The Rural Voice, 1992-04, Page 39•►
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A sea of signs as far as the eye could
see greeted television cameras from
the camera platform and speakers on
the stage.
was unknown by most of the yawning
farmers and supporters who felt a
sense of tension grow as the capital
city grew closer. Organizers began
preparing for the assault, stapling
Bristol board to pieces of wooden
strapping and turning it over to others
to write messages. The talk had been
that 25,000 people would be on the
hill, they had heard. Would it happen
or was it just talk? There were
rumours of the militancy of Quebec
farmers. What would happen if a
demonstration got out of hand? Might
there be violence?
They weren't the only ones wor-
ried about violence. When orga-
nizers fust talked to Ottawa city
authorities about the number of peo-
ple they expected for the demonstra-
tion, police officials had been
appalled at the chaos that could be
caused by putting 25,000 demonstra-
tors in the middle of the city. Police in
riot gear stood behind barricades sur-
rounding the centre -block lawn where
the demonstration was to be held. One
officer, surveying the swelling crowd
admitted there wouldn't be much
police could do if the crowd did get
out of control. It was to be an easy
day despite the initial fears. The row-
diest the crowd ever got was a few
snowballs that sailed through the air
as Don Mazankowski, Finance Minis-
ter and Deputy Prime Minister, began
to talk and an egg that hit one of the
people on the platform and spilled
down his suit. Other than that the
demonstration was good natured and
polite. Organizers couldn't have
hoped for more. Ostensibly the
demonstration wasn't against the
government, but in support of the
government for its stand for a bal-
anced approach in GATT negotiations
that would see subsidies that distort
international trade reduced, but would
allow countries to control supply
where they were net importers of
food. The government had given that
firm support earlier in the same week
when it met with farm leaders and
Prime Minister Mulroney had sent a
trade mission composed of govern
ment officials and some farm leaders
off to Europe to tell Canada's story.
The government position hadn't
been so strong earlier and that's
why farm organizations had
begun to work together on plans for
the march. Ontario Milk Marketing
Board officials became alarmed when
they returned from the Dairy Farmers
of Canada meeting in Newfoundland
at the end of January, said Jim
Fitzgerald of the OMMB. information
from insiders in Ottawa and contacts
in Washington and Europe indicated
the Canadian government was pre-
pared to table an acceptance of a sys-
tem of tariffs at GATT on March I.
"The negotiators misjudged the
impact of tariffication," Roger George
said later on a visit to western
Ontario. "I think the government felt
that tariffs would work. I don't think
the government realized the farm
community would stick together. It
must have been an awful shock to
them to sec what we did."
When OMMB officials became
alarmed by what they were hearing
about the government's position, they
set up an emergency meeting that
APRIL 1992 35