The Rural Voice, 1992-11, Page 48News in Agriculture
Eugene Whelan was in top form when he addressed 175 people at the annual
meeting of the Grey County Federation of Agriculture in Durham Octoberl6.
Trade bureaucrats
need tight political
control, Whelan says
The bureaucrats negotiating
international trade regulations need
strong direction from their political
ministers, says Eugene Whelan,
former agriculture Minister of
Canada and a critic of Canada's
recent international trade moves.
The bureaucrats hammering out the
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) agreement have been
living the high life in Geneva for
years, Whelan said when he
addressed the annual meeting of the
Grey County Federation of
Agriculture in Durham, October 16.
"They decide what is best for you and
I if we don't have strong ministers.
Some people see GATT as the
miracle of the ages but that's false,
false, false!"
While the United States is now
backing GATT, it has hardly ever
accepted a GATT ruling that went
against it, he said. He quoted an
article in Harper's magazine that said
GATT and the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are an
end run to put power into the hands
of bureaucrats and take it out of the
hands of elected Parliaments and
congresses. The "fast track" approval
for NAFTA means American
politicians can only approve or turn
44 THE RURAL VOICE
down the agreement, not use their
democratic right to seek changes.
Countries like Canada should really
be taking the U.S. to GATT over the
chaos it is causing in international
trade, he said. "How much money are
we spending because of U.S. trade
policies?" In 1983-84 the entire
budget for the federal and provincial
agriculture departments in Canada
was $3 billion, Whelan said. Now the
Canadian government spends $3
billion just to keep grain and oil seed
farmers alive because of the
undermining of intemational markets
by the Americans. He called U.S. use
of export subsidies to win markets
"economic terrorism".
He continued to support supply
management although he said even
provincial and federal politicians are
not strong in their support. Supply
management is the most democratic
form of marketing. "Who the hell are
these people who can take these
things away behind closed doors that
we worked so hard for so long (to
get)?" he bellowed. 0
Farm efficiency can
feed millions without
environmental harm
Modern plant varieties and cattle
breeds, not increased use of
chemicals, account for most of the
huge increase in farm production in
the last 40 years, Dr. Gordon
Surgeoner told the annual meeting of
the Perth County Federation of
Agriculture in St. Pauls October 9.
Dr. Surgeoner, a University of
Guelph entomologist, and director of
the "Our Farm Environmental
Agenda" program said farmers are
feeding a population in Ontario that
has more than doubled since 1951 but
there are actually fewer acres in
production, and fewer animals on
dairy farms. Total farmland in
Ontario is down 30 per cent in that
period, but most of the losses haven't
been to urbanization (only 2-3 per
cent) but have been more marginal
lands that have been planted to trees
and other more environmentally
sound uses.
In that period the number of dairy
cattle has dropped by 851,000 but
production of milk has increased by
four per cent. If people are worried
about cows producing methane, there
is no better way to reduce the
problem than to reduce cattle
numbers, he said. Fewer, more
efficient dairy cattle also mean less
land is needed to grow feed for the
animals.
In 1951 a litre of milk cost 19
cents. At the same rate, the litre
should have cost $1.16 in 1991 but
only cost 92 cents, he said. Compared
to 1961, the average Canadian spends
$1300 less on food today yet there
are still two million people using
food banks. The problem isn't in
growing food economically, he said,
but in the distribution of wealth.
Throughout the world the problem is
that people can't afford to fairly pay
for food, even though it is cheap.
The $1300 saving the consumer has
because of cheaper food can be spent
on a trip to Disney World or on the
environment, he said.
Still, he says, farmers must be
aware of the problems of soil erosion,
water quality and supply, air quality,
etc. Farmers have a high credibility
but they must be seen to be active and
that's what "Our Farm Environmental
Agenda" is doing. This fall 50
farmers are going through an
assessment of their farming
operations and will be told how they
can take action0