The Huron Expositor, 1995-03-15, Page 42WESTEEL
(FARMATIC)
Page 24 -Farm Progress '96'
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Under a Tory government, what
is the future of agriculture?
by David Scott
Ontario's wetlands policy, forest
tax, labor laws and other rural
policies would be radically
revamped under a Tory
government, suggests the party's
agriculture critic.
Noble Villeneuve spoke to Huron
County farmers recently in Hensall
at the W.G. Thompson board room
about the future of agriculture in
Ontario under a Mike Harris
government.
As part of Harris' "common
Sense Revolution," an extensive
study was done in 1993 and
released in 1994 to identify impor-
tant agricultural and rural concerns
in Ontario.
Villeneuve discussed this report in
Hensall and fielded questions from
concerned farmers. The report isn't
limited to just agriculture. It states
the Tory stand on gun control,
graduated licensing, waste
management, policing and other
rural concerns.
The agriculture critic said Harris
would stop cuts to the ministry of
Agriculture which has lost 20 per
cent of its funding over the past
two years.
Wetlands policy
The Tories want to restructure the
controversial provincial wetlands
policy which was introduced in
1992. When the Ministry of Natural
Resources designates a portion of a
farmer's land as Class 1, 2 or 3
wetland, it virtually freezes that
property for future development
purposes. Along with that clas-
sification, the Ministry establishes a
400 foot buffer zone adjacent to the
wetland.
Many landowner groups told the
Tory tack force that these buffer
zones are arbitrary, excessive and
unreasonable.
"Certainly there is something
wrong when these things occur,
when bureaucracy is dictating," said
Villeneuve.
To make matters even more
frustrating for landowners, the
Ministry of Natural Resources had
made no attempt to inform owners
of the wetland designation placed
on their property and many find out
second-hand through their neigh-
bors, according to the Tory report.
"The landowners should be
rewarded or compensated for
sacrificing property value for the
rest of society," said Rick Wishart
of Ducks Unlimited
Forest tax rebate
Farm -managed woodlots were
exempt from taxes until two years
ago.
"The cancellation of the Managed
Forest Tax Rebate (MFIR) program
has seriously threatened the main-
tenance and regeneration of many
private woodlots in Ontario," accor-
ding to the PC rural task force.
Under the MFTR, a woodiot
owner could receive a rebate of up
to 75 per cern of his or her
municipal realty taxes. The program
was implemented to ensure private
woodlots remained forested and
provided an adequate supply of
timber for future use. The removal
of the rebate program means some
owners are facing tax increases of
300 per cent, according to the Tory
report. This has forced some wood -
lot owners to consider cutting tim-
ber stands to get the money for
their tax bills, says the Task Force.
"That all happened (rebate
program being dropped) without
ever coming through the legislature.
Regulations changed," said the Tory
agriculture critic.
Unionize the family farm?
In July, 1993, the Ontario NDP
government introduced Bill 91. The
Agricultural Labor Relations Act.
This bill was a continuation of the
NDP's agenda of labor law reform
and was preceded by Bill 40, the
pro -union, job killing legislation
passed in 1992, according to the PC
Task Force.
Bill 91 allows for collective bar-
gaining in the agricultural sector,
with a prohibition placed on strikes
and lockouts.
"The government believes this bill
recognizes the unique characteristics
of the agricultural industry and will
protect Ontario producers from
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disruptions during harvest. The
Ontario Progressive Conservative
Caucus disagrees," states the Troy
rural report.
Bill 40 has scared off business to
Ontario, according to the Tory
agriculture critic.
"Bill 40 and the atmosphere it's
created is not conducive to creating
new businesses or. to expanding
businesses," said Villeneuve.
Aging beef
A former beef farmer, Villeneuve,
spoke to farmers in Hensall about
the processing procedure and
marketing of meat.
"It always intrigued me when I
took my livestock to the processing
plant and the kill occurred, there
was no aging and I still don't know
where the aging occurs. But the
housewife goes to the store and
buys what she thinks is a good cut
of meat.
"You as a farmer fed that animal
well, looked after it. The processor
has his money in his bank account,
the retailer has his money in his
bank account. They haven't aged
your beef, so it may not quite be
right. It may only be five, six,
seven days. from the kill," said
Villeneuve, who talked about the
importance of lite aging process.
The aging process is a major area
where governments should be
looking at and ensuring that we
have at least ten days of proper
aging. Because our consumers are
becoming very particular and we
look after everything else except
that short period of time. And it's
not your fault. The processor says,
I don't have the room to do it. I
don't want to tie up the capital.
And it's your product that suffers.
'We have a problem, said Vil-
leneuve.
Tough questions
Huron County farmer Bill Wal-
lace of R.R. 4, Seaforth, asked
Villeneuve how his party would be
any different from the other two
main parties about delivering the
rural message to urban constituents.
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