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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-03-15, Page 14RADFORD AUTO FARM AND INDUSTRIAL PARTS LTD. Blyth & Brussels Cordially invite you to attend our TENTH ANNIVERSARY SALE To thank you for your support we offer a ONE DAY CASH & CARRY SALE 17% OFF ON ALL PURCHASES AND ORDERS* Friday, March 24, 1995 — Open until 9:00 p.m. /)*- Refreshments and Door Prizes • Some restrictions apply. All items must be paid for on the day of sale. No Refunds or Returns PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1995. MP, MPP discuss environmental considerations represent the 26,000 dairy farmers in this country. The production sector itself accounted for $3.4 billion in sales in 1993. The processing of dairy products and retail sales contributed an additional $3.6 billion in value and provided 100,000 jobs. Canadian exports of dairy products to the United States, the European Union, and other countries amounted to $140 million in 1993, while the total value of dairy products imported into Canada was more than $160 million. Dairy farmers want halt on U.S. attacks With livestock operations becom- ing larger and larger on one hand, and urban residents feeling more and more proprietary toward a pris- tine countryside on the other, there was plenty of discussion on the environment at the Members of Parliament Dinner held by the Huron County Federation of Agri- culture March 11. Farm commodity groups from across the county addressed their American dairy industry attacks on Canadian dairy farmers must stop. Canada must demand that the U.S. play by the new trade rules that took effect on Jan. 1, Canada's dairy farmers said Feb. 20. The Dairy Farmers of Canada, with the support of its 26,000 members across the country, are calling on Prime Minister Chretien to make Canada's iron-clad position crystal clear to U.S. President Bill Clinton, during his visit to Canada on Feb. 23 and 24. There has been increasing pressure from the U.S. dairy products industry to obtain broader access to the Canadian market. The American Government has just asked the Canadian Government to begin negotiations on this, under the terms of NAFTA. This request is the first step in the NAFTA process for settling disputes. "Once again, Americans and Canadians disagree on import and export questions," said Peter Oosterhoff, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada. "This isn't the first time. In previous conflicts over pork, lumber and automobiles, Canada won." "Canada's legal position in this case is very solid," Mr. Oosterhoff said. "The legal opinions we have received are clear: the conversion of quotas into equivalent tariffs is recognized right under NAFTA. It is essential that the Government of Canada come out in strong defence of this principle." Mr. Oosterhoff said issues which were the subject of long and difficult negotiations under GATT and NAFTA should not be further discussed. "There is no reason to negotiate. We have a GATT deal that was signed and agreed to by both Canada and the U.S. The U.S. must respect this agreement." For this reason, the dairy farmers ask the government of Canada to immediately halt negotiations with the United States on these issues. "We expect Prime Minister Chrdtien to forcefully raise this top economic priority with President Clinton during their meeting," emphasized Mr. Oosterhoff. The Dairy Farmers of Canada March Break Special March 13 - 24 $5.00 haircuts for all students $30.00 perms for all students $50.00 spiral perms for all students THE MANE CHOICE 131 North Street, Blyth Linda Uyl 523-4719 Linton and Jody Durand. If you are living on your farm you want to make sure you don't pollute the ground water and only spread manure under the best conditions, Mr. Linton said, but when contract operators don't live where their barn is located, there's less incen- tive to be careful. A 100-sow far- row-to-finish unit produces more manure than a village of 1,500 peo- ple, he pointed out. Larger manure storage facilities for growing livestock operations has been a concern for some rural municipalities and Huron County has been working on an updated model bylaw to circulate to the townships, Dr. Gary Davidson, Huron County's director of plan- ning told the group. One of the con- cerns of township councils, he said, is that larger operations have enough land to spread the manure on, either owned or leased. But the difficulty for the township is that a farmer can have enough land rented at the time the barn and manure storage tank are built, but there is no way to bind the farmer to con- tinue to maintain a sufficient land base once the facility has been built. "If you haven't enough land to grow your own feed, you haven't enough land to spread your manure," Mr. Linton said. "I think it's important that if someone wants to put 10,000 hogs in one place and say they're effi- cient that they have to show they're efficient in all the environmental aspects," said Paul Klopp, MPP Perhaps, he suggested, large live- stock operations should be required to have monitoring wells around their property just as landfill sites do so that pollution can be quickly detected. But while some present worried about farmers effect on the envi- ronment, others worried about the growing expectations of urbanites that they had a stake in the country- side. "The thrust by environmental- ists towards making rural Ontario into a public reserve with abundant wildlife and teeming fish habitat for the recreational activities of the ever expanding urban population concerns us," said Henry Boot in delivering a brief from the Federa- tions environmental committee. It shouldn't be up to farmers to pre- serve the countryside at their own expense for the pleasure of others, he said. If society wants things pre- served it must be willing to pay. members of parliament on various topics but woven through were concerns both from the impact of larger livestock operations and pressure from urbanites who want the country to remain clean and pretty. The move toward large new hog operations operating under contract concerned the Huron County Pork Producers, represented by Dave "We've got a pretty serious situa- tion," said Ken Kelly, second vice- president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, dealing with "those who would preserve and designate and limit our right to use the land we buy and pay taxes on." He men- tioned government employees who talked about meeting with the "stakeholders" about rural issues, but the one group they hadn't talked to was the farmers who owned the land. In another case a study went on for years but never resulted in any action, he said. It's important that farmers be -involved in any discussion of rural issues, Mr. Kelly said. "This province wasn't built by people who sat behind a desk for 15 years and dreamed. It was built by people with calluses on their hands who went out and did things." Mr. Klopp said this danger is a reason farm groups like OFA must have the resources to lobby on the behalf of their members. He denied the perception that urban environ- mental groups have "taken over" the NDP government. "I know environmental groups are there making all kinds of noise but they haven't taken over the govern- ment."