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The Citizen, 1986-12-10, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1986. GATT best route on negotiations, Elston says If Canada wants to get a fair deal in international trade the best hope lies in multinational, not bilateral negotiations says Murray Elston, M.P.P. for Huron Bruce but, he warned, progress will be slow. Mr. Elston, Ontario’s Health Minister, reported his impressions from representing the Ontario government at the General Agree­ ment on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) meeting in Uraguay earlier this year to members of the Huron The new executive of the Huron-Perth Shorthorn Club was named at the organization’s annual meeting in Brussels on November 27. President of the club is Cam Procter [front, right]; vice-president is Jack Currie [front, left]; Frank Falconer [back, left] is past president; and Bob Higgins [back, right] is vice-president. -Photo by the Wingham Advance-Times Brussels men lead on Shorthorn Club Two Brussels-area men have been acclaimed to the executive of the Huron-Perth Shorthorn Club at the annual meeting of the organi­ zation held November 27 at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Com­ munity Centre. Cam Procter has been re-instat­ ed as president, while Bob Higgins was acclaimed as secretary-trea­ surer; both men are from RR 5, Brussels. Jack Currie, RR 3, Wingham, remains as vice-presi­ dent,andFrankFalconer.RRS, Clinton, is past-president. Awards were presented to sev­ eral 4H members exhibiting Short­ horns over the past club year, including Joan and Kevin Dewar, RR3, Monkton, Karen Campbell, RR 5, Brucefield; and Steven Beane, RR 1, Brucefield. Two award winners were absent: San­ dra Shelley, RR 2, Gorrie, and Peter Frijters, Brunner. Sandra, Karen and Steven were Blyth Construction Home Renovations and General Contractors Ciord Jenkins FREE ESTIMATES Blyth, Ontario ©Wight Chalmers k 513-3371 513-4154 County Federation of Agriculture in Londesboro Thursday night. After talking to delegations from the United States and the Euro­ pean Economic Community he said, he came to the conclusion that only through multi-national nego­ tiations can smaller countries like Canada hope to get any bargaining power by joining forces. Most worrying, Mr. Elston told the sparce crowd at the Hullett Central School, is that the two big all winners of a Stan Jackson Memorial Award at the Huron County 4-H Achievement Night in Clinton last month, while Sandra captured a number of prestigious awards, including the C. S. McNaughton Trophy for the high­ est 4-H score in the county, and an award for the Reserve Grand Champion heifer at the 4-H Beef Championship Show at the Sea­ forth Fall Fair last September. Karen showed the third place heifer at the Seaforth Fair. Andy Williams, assistant to CKNX farm editor Murray Gaunt was the guest speaker of the evening, as well as providing entertainment when he teamed up with Linda Axtman of Goderich to sing a few numbers. Mr. Williams said he enjoyed his work at CKNX, and said that he figured that “being a broadcaster is the next best thing to being a farmer.” agricultural powers are bent on regaining what they consider their rightful “historic” markets, in many commodities this means the U.S. thinks it should have up to 45 per cent of the world market, the Europeans aim at a similarly large chunk leaving Canada and Austra­ lia and other smaller exporters wondering what is left for them. In addition, he points out, countries that were once importers of food are now exporters as well. In all he says, by the time everyone gets what they consider their fair share of the market it adds upto 140 or 150 per cent. Speaking with a high-powered U.S. negotiator, Mr. Elston said, he was told the U.S. feeling was that it was too bad if Canada was hurt as the U.S. battles to get back its “rightful” share of world markets but if that’s the way it’s got to be, that’s the way it’s got to be. The Europeans basically said the same thing. That’s why, Mr. Elston said, he had become convinced that G.A.T.T. negotiations, where Canada, Australia and other small­ er producers could join forces, offer the best hope for Canada to get some leverage. But, he warned, G. A.T. T. is one of the most highly-bureaucratized organizations in existence and any movement will be slow. Reading the G.A.T.T. document is heavy going, the former lawyer said, and hard to understand. If you see a word that appears easy to under­ stand, watch out: it’s probably there so that it can mean all things to all people. The wording is so vague in some areas that the European Community can provide subsidies without calling them subsidies. “The underlying realization I came to was that first, there are no quick solutions; second, there are no easy solutions and third, that there is no way countries like Canada can go on their own. I reluctantly realized that there is safety in numbers.” He said as much as he would like to believe Canada and the United States could co-operate on trade issues, his conclusion is that Canada is like a row boat being swamped in the wake of a super tanker. Given the time it will take for either action from G.A.T.T. or for the treasuries of the U.S. and E.C.C. to “get tired” from their spending binge on subsidies, Mr. Elston said co-operation was need­ ed between provincial and federal treasuries in Canada to tide Canadian agriculture through the rough period. It may take years, he said, before there is any relief from the current subsidy war waged by the two giants. Canadian governments must fill the gap to make sure Canadian farmers are still in business when the war is over.