The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-05-17, Page 22economize
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P
e 22•—Lacknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 17, 1978
SPECIAL
GARBAGE COLLECTION
A SPECIAL PICKUP OF
LARGE ITEMS
Such as Fridges - Stoves - Mattresses
Hot Water Tanks, Etc.
Will be made on
Monday, May 22, 1978
ALL ARTICLES TO BE SET OUT BY 8 A.M.
No regular. garbage or brush will
Be picked up on the 22nd
THE VILLAGE COUNCIL
.FLOYD MILNE
PLETCH ELECTRIC
WINGHAM
RESIDENTIAL--FARM--INDUSTRIAL
AND COMMERCIAL
Phone Collect 357-1583
Ontario Federation of Agriculture�
Presents brief to Ontario cabinet
Agriculture -The Missed Opportunity
The Government of Ontario has
missed a unique opportunity to
stimulate the economy, Peter
Hannam, President, Ontario Fed-
eration of Agriculture, (OFA) told
the Ontario Cabinet on April 26.
In its annual Brief to Cabinet,
the OFA stated the government
seemed to be dazzled by the
glamour of industry and had
forgotten the potential of agricul-
ture.
Of particular concern to Ontar-
io's farmers is the growing
dependency on imported foods.
The province was nearly self-suf-
ficient in 1961 but is rapidly
losing the capacity to feeds Its
citizens. The 36 -page Brief show-
ed that, unless present trends
were reversed, Ontario would be
producing only 74% of the wheat,
57% of the beef, 75% of the pork,
and 46% of the fruits and
potatoes needed by 1985.
Hannam said, the growing
dependence on imported foods
was the result of the governmen't
failure to realize the -potential of
agriculture for stimulating the
economy. "This government
maintains it is committed to a
healthyagriculture but its sup-
portis only half-hearted.
"Perhaps the best indication of
its lack of strong commitment is
the budget of the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Most, ministries received a heal-
thy ' increase this year. When
inflation is taken into account,
OMAF's budget \will be cut by six
to eight percent."
"The government's lack of
,initiative is hurting more than just
the farm community," said
Hannam. f 'We are importing over
$340 million in food, that could be
produced here.
"Those imports translate into
6,000 farmers forced out of
business and 7,000 jobs lost in the
food processing sector alone.
When .you consider the farm
supply sector as well as the
multiplier effect, we have prob-
ably lost well over 50,000 jobs."
The OFA's brief contained a
number of recommendations to
stimulate the farm sector.
1. a major promotional and
marketing campaign to sell Ont-
ario produce.
2. government* assistance to
improve the efficiency of the food
processing industry.
3. more government funds to help
improve farming efficiency and
competitiveness.
4. a review of the laws and
regulations which are smothering
agriculture with red tape.
Hannam concluded that farm-
ers are faced ' with a tragic
paradox. Farm incomes haue*--,
fallen because of a lack of
markets, yet hundreds of millions
of people are facing near starva-
tion, in some parts of the world.
"Obviously, -Ontario cannot
solve the world's food problems.
It's a disgrace, however, that we
cannot feed even ourselves. Our
minimum objective should be to
maintain our production capacity
at a level of self-sufficiency."
7,000 more processing
fobs possible in .Ontario
About 7,000 new jobs could be
created in Ontario and an
additional $341,500,000 could be
generated yearly into the econ-
omy if the Province were self-suf-
ficient in food production, reports
the Ontario Federation of Agricul-
ture, (OFA) in its Annual Brief to
the Ontario Cabinet.
The 36 -gage report, presented
April 26, also states, Ontario
would be unable to feed its own
populace by 1985 if present
agricultural trends continued.
The prime reason for the lost
jobs and a potential food short-
age, the Brief states, is the lack of
any aggressive provincial or
federal marketing programs for
Canadian products, as well as the
lack of any comprehensible and
effective agricultural policy that
could create farmer confidence in
the economy. '
The 7,000 potential jobswould
be created in fruit and vegetable
processing, in container manufac-
turing, meat packing and poultry
processing.
The Brief explains also that this
number would be increased by
the additional jobs created
throughout the economy as a
result of the multiplier effect.
Further to this would be an
increase in the number of farm
jobs created by the need for
increased production. •
The Brief states that, what
keeps the price of imports down
at present is the competitiveness
of the Canadian farmers: "It is
wrong to expect imports will
always be available. It is unrealis-
tic to expect imports would be
offered at a fair, competitive price
in the absence of locally -produced
products.
"The deficiency in our food
Research needed
to improve e f f iciency
1
If the Ontario farmer is to be
efficient and therefore competi-
" T ie, the .Government of Ontario
must provide him with an
environment for effective produc-
tion, the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture (OFA) said in its
Annual Brief presentation to the
provincial Cabinet April 26.
This would include assistance
with research in the development
of new technology and manage-
ment techniques, as well as in the
areas of labour, tile drainage and
capital grants.
• The 36 -page Brief states,
because of the uncertainty of
energy resources in the future, a
high .priority should be placed on
research to explore the possibility
of alternative energy-saving types
of commercial food production.
In the field of capital grants,
the Brief recommends the upper
limit per farm be raised to
$20,000, with closer scrutiny
given to assure its use for
improvement of productivity. Pri-
ority should be placed on land
improvement, building modern-
ization, drainage, and pollution
abatement.
The Tile Drainage Loan pro-
gram the Brief states, has the
greatest potential for increasing
add-on productivity to Ontario's
economy but it was cut by
$4 -million in the last provincial
budget. This should be reversed
and existing funds should be
increased by 50 percent.
Because of the difficulties in
obtaining farm labour, the Brief
recommends the Government
examine existing welfare pro-
grams to assure they do not
discourage recipients from taking
part-time farm jobs. In addition,
it requests the existing student
labour program be continued and
that farm worker apprentice pro-
grams receive serious considera-
tion.
production is a disgrace: This
would not be so if we lacked the
resources for competitive farm
production but our land base and
the climate in Southwestern
Ontario are near optimal."
The OFA recommends that, to
combat this lost potential in the
Ontario and Canadian economy,
the Provincial Government should
demand greater commitment by
the Federal Government, "to the
importance of agriculture in inter-
national negotiations and to
follow through with aggressive
marketing programs, in co-oper-
ation with farm and food manu-
facturing groups, to sell Ontario
farm products internationally."
The Brief states, the OFA is
"delighted to see the introduction
of the Foodland Ontario symbol
and the initial achievements,"
but because the financial commit-
ment to is was only one-tenth of
what was requested, "the entire �.
promotion program fall's short of
expectations."
De -regulation
process
The current government com-
mitment to a sweeping program
of de -regulation is of vital concern
to Ontario farmers, the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
said in its Annual Brief to the
Provincial Cabinet April 26.
, The 36 -page report said there
was a myriad of boards, commis-
sions, statutes, and regulations
affecting farmers. Many of these
are needless red tape but some
are necessary for a more product-
ive farming community.
As a result, the Brief recom- -
mended the government under-
take a "review of regulations"
rather than a blind commitment
to de -regulation for de -regula-
tion's sake. '
Because of the iniportance of
this process, the OFA stressed
the necessity of the "review of
regulations" being done in an
open and public forum rather
than in secret. The OFA is
prepared to assist in the review in
order to strengthen the total food
system.
The Brief suggested that, in the
Review, major changes should be
made to the following legislation:
- a Petty Trespass Act to protect
landowners from pilferage, har-
assment and liability. .
- farming should be included in
the proposed health and safety
legislation by regulation only.
- an amended Line Fences Act
which would have various levels
of government pay their fair share
of damage to road fences.
As well, the report asked that
farming be exempt from municip-
al anti -noise by-laws, and that the
Agricultural Code of Practice
should only be used as a guideline
in the planning process,