The Rural Voice, 1992-04, Page 43But the message didn't come from
the speakers on stage, but from the
very presence of this huge number of
people who had sacrificed time and
money to make the trip. For many, as
the rally finally ended, the payoff was
yet to come. Quickly the huge crowd
began to melt away, heading back to
Wellington SL for the march back to
the buses at Lebreton Flats.
J1 was here, Blaine Stephenson
says, that many farmers experi-
enced their most moving moment
of the whole day. The crowd filled the
street from one side to the other, as far
as the eye could see. People lined the
windows of the office buildings
above, waving to the farmers. Quebec
and Ontario farmers were shoulder to
shoulder. Language and constitutional
problems were forgotten.
"It was like marching to war,"
farmers have told Stephenson over
and over again. "It was an incredible
experience."
Ottawa officials had been worried
the farmers might paralyze the city
but in a remarkable short time Lebre-
ton Flats had emptied and the buses
were dispersing to the east, west,
north and south, taking farmers back
to their homes.
The jury is still out on whether
the rally will have concrete
results in helping Canada win a
position on protecting supply manage-
ment but there's plenty of evidence
that Feb. 21, 1992 will still go down
as a historic day for Canadian agricul-
ture, particularly for Ontario farmers.
A new sense of power and optimism
has been noticed by many. Bob
Humphries, OMAF Ag. Rep. for
Huron said he's noticed a new sense
of optimism in his county's farmers
since the rally.
Stephenson credits the rally with
helping the Federation of Agriculture
far exceed its expectations in a mem-
bership drive in Perth and Huron
counties. The two-week drive resulted
in 313 new members when about 200
were expected.
Farm organizations have taken a
wait-and-see attitude on the progress
of the GATT talks, scaling down their
state of emergency but being prepared
to launch more rallies if necessary.
This time they probably wouldn't have
to do much coaching. Many farmers
are ready to march all over again.0
�_
OF THE MONTH CLUB
HCOW
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APRIL 1992 39