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HUGH HUNTER
LARRY HUNTER
Call
368-5150
50 THE RURAL VOICE
News in Agriculture
told Johns he was disturbed by "three
or four rounds of quasi -consultations
that seem to have been designed to
pit farmer against farmer, commodity
against commodity and region
against region." He said most farm
groups, with the exception of the
Christian Farmers Federation of
Ontario, have reached a joint
agreement to be united in not
suggesting cuts until the real budget
figure is announced.
"I'm concerned that some people
are willing to suggest where cuts
should be made," he told the farm
leaders present. "All the commodity
groups have met and said they will
talk about where to cut when they get
a real budget figure, not before. We
have to try to be united and play it
close to the vest. There could be just
as big a cut coming next year."
Johns floated a few trial balloons
about where cuts might be made. She
quoted from an OMAFRA study
which claimed that the farmers who
used OMAFRA services the most
were also the farmers who made the
most money. Many in the room
disagreed with that suggestion.
She also dealt with the need to get
tax reform so that the farm tax rebate
can be cancelled (the rebate makes
up 35 per cent of the OMAFRA
budget). "If we got the tax reform
done it would get rid of the farm tax
rebate," Johns said. That would be
the size of the cut needed to
OMAFRA. But money will have to
be found elsewhere to fund the
education system, she said. Already
an average of 55,000 is spcnt on cach
child schooled in Huron County
compared to $7,500 in Toronto.
Tempers flared when Jeanne
Kirkby of Walton, OFA director for
Central Huron, told Johns it was her
duty to represent Huron in Toronto.
"Whether you have farm roots or not
you have to express our interests.
You have to give agriculture the
importance it deserves."
When someone else suggested
Johns has to be available to listen to
local residents she bristled and said
she had met with many people in her
office but she can't be at every
meeting. She was the parliamentary
assistant to thc Minister of Health,
she said, and she had been fighting
hard for rural health care. "I've been
working on getting doctors here for
emergency rooms. " Thanks in part to
her efforts there was now a $70 per
hour funding for doctors on
emergency duty, she said.
Johns drew some kudos along with
the brickbats. Steve Thompson,
president of the Huron Federation,
thanked her for meeting with farm
groups to discuss the OMAFRA
situation and Bob Down, president of
the Ontario Corn Producers
Association thanked her for her
efforts on behalf of getting funding
for two ethanol plants in Ontario and
praised the government for
increasing the GRIP coverage to 85
per cent.
Meanwhile leaders told Johns a
commission looking into ways of
cutting red tape in Ontario is
welcome as long as it doesn't
interfere with farm products
marketing boards.
' Johns said agriculture is not on the
list of areas to be looked at by the
commission but she has asked to be
kept aware and be part of the
discussion if agriculturally -oriented
issues arise. Also, she noted, Marcel
Beaubien, parliamentary assistant to
the minister of agriculture, food and
rural affairs, is on the commission.
Concerns arose after the
presentation from the Huron County
Pork Producers, who told Johns they
were upset over the way the Farm
Products Marketing Commission
(FPMC) had interfered in
negotiations between the Ontario
Pork Producers Marketing Board and
packers. "It was clear to all in the
industry that inside pressure and
manipulation by the processors
caused a great deal of unfairness in
the actions of the commission," the
brief said.
Johns admitted frustration with the
fact the FPMC is an arms -length
commission with only one
representative of thc provincial
government sitting on it. It was hard
to get information out of the
commission on what was going on,
she said. "I think that it has to be
more open," she said.
Some worried about the fact that