The Rural Voice, 1987-11, Page 72BRUCE COUNTY Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario
FREE TRADE OR NOT?
Ideally, free trading between part-
ners is a great thing. In this ideal rela-
tionship, the partners buy, sell, swap, or
trade to the mutual benefit of both part-
ners. Like a friendship, the two parties
are concerned about the well-being of
the other party. Sacrifices must be made
by both for the relationship to last.
Realistically, though, I think we are
only dreaming of such a relationship
between Canada and the U.S. We are
trading partners, true, and geographi-
cally next of kin. But I have yet to see
either country make a voluntary sacri-
fice or compromise for the benefit of the
other. We each seem to be trying to get
as much as we can from the other: "each
man for himself." As long as we con-
tinue to pursue this greedy mentality, we
are headed for certain doom.
We each have certain skills, exper-
tise, and resources that the other does
not have. These may be traded and
swapped to the benefit of both. But
KEEP THIS
DATE OPEN
Friday,
November 13
Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture
Annual Meeting
Chesley Community Centre
Social hour:
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Speaker: Wayne Easter,
National Farmers Union:
Free Trade/ European Common
Agricultural Policy
70 THE RURAL VOICE
when we start to look across the border
for an expanded market, we are ignoring
the fact that a market "gain" for us is a
market "loss" for someone else. A fur-
ther problem with this viewpoint is that
presently the scale measuring the suc-
cess of a trade deal is entirely economic.
It is fine to export minerals, lumber, or
some farm products as long as a fair
price is paid to the producer. Being able
to export only because of a competitive
price is an invitation to exploitation.
For example, a low price for lumber
and farm products encourages eco-
nomic abuse of forests and farmers and
physical abuse of the soil and natural
resources of our country. A case in point
is the loss of Bruce County's cattle pas-
tures to the ever-increasing acreage of
continuous corn. Some farm land has
been practically ruined by soil erosion
and poor organic matter management.
All costs must be taken into account,
including the environment and the loss
N4N 1P9 519-364-3050
of reserves for future generations.
Another problem with "economic"
success is that the producers in the
importing country are expected to com-
pete with the cheaper imports or change
to another line of business. This unbal-
anced competition causes many indus-
tries to be lost and, over a period of time,
a dependency upon the cheaper imports
which may not always be available.
Even when imports are available, trans-
portation costs add an unnecessary ex-
pense to the product and leave the im-
porting country vulnerable to disrup-
tions in supply and prices.
It seems to me that some degree of
self-sufficiency would be preferable to
dependency on a power ten times
greater than our own. For Canada to
become this vulnerable to the U.S. is a
mistake. The price will be paid in the
long term. Can we afford it?0
Gerald Poechman
Brant Township Director
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture
AWARD OF MERIT
for contributions to agriculture
I nominate.
Reasons:
1
Send to the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, 446 10th St.,
Hanover, Ont. N4N 1 P9