The Rural Voice, 1979-07, Page 23Rural news in brief
Farm groups happy
to see ag minister from Ontario
John Wise, a Yarmouth 1 ownship dairy farmer and MP from
Elgin riding, was named Canadian minister of agriculture in Joe
Clark's government.
Mr. Wise has been the Conservative party's agricultural critic
for the past three years and had been touted as a strong choice
for agriculture minister if the Conservatives won the election.
Mr. Wise replaces Eugene Whelan of Essex County who held
the cabinet post .
With -in two days of taking office, Mr. Wise announced he was
already working on several pieces of farm legislation.
A beef import law is being drafted similar to that in the United
States which would allow the government to halt imports if
countries are dumping beef on the Canadian market at less than
Canadian prices.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has been asking for
this legislation for several years.
The new agriculture minister also plans to implement the
Agricultural Export Corporation announced by the Liberals
during the election campaign as a tool to sell Canadian food
abroad. The board would have powers similar to the Canadian
wheat board.
Mr. Wise said he does have reservations about the original
proposal to make it obligatory that six of the 11 -man export board
be farmers.
"What I want, and I'm sure farmers want on that body, are
sales and marketing experts, no matter what segment of society
they come from...This approach wouldn't necessarily exclude
farmers with this type of expertise."
Mr. Wise also plans to introduce an amendment to the Farm
Credit Act which will allow the Farm Credit Corp, to seek
funding from non-government sources.
The minister asked Gaetan Lussier, the deputy minister under
Eugene Whelan, to continue with the ministry.
Mr. Wise said Lussier is "a very capable deputy minister and
regarded as one of the best in Ottawa."
The agriculture minister said he plans to make appointments
from Quebec and the West to his staff as well.
John Wise's appointment doesn't come as a complete surprise
to the agricultural community.
Merle Gunby, of Ashfield Township president of the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture, said his appointment to the
ministry in the event of a Conservative victory "had been
rumoured." Mr. Gunby said he was a little surprised that
someone from the West hadn't been appointed to the post but he
was happy to see an Ontario man in office.
Mr. Gunby said he wouldn't comment further on the
appointment until he has seen some of Mr. Wise's policies.
Gordon Hill of Varna, past -president of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture, was quoted as saying, "I've known him (John
Wise) for a number of years and he's a very capable, talented
and industrious man. I'm sure he knows the problems that
farmers face and I have great confidence in him."
Elbert Van Donkesgoed of Drayton, executive director of the
Christian Farmers' Federation of Ontario, said, "I think he's
quite an acceptable choice."
Tony Van Klooster of R.R. 2, St. Paul, president of the Perth
County Federation of Agriculture , also said it was pretty early to
comment on Mr. Wise's appointment.
Mr. Van Klooster added while he didn't think Mr. Wise will
put up as strong a voice as Eugene Whelan did, he still has faith
in him.
John Wise has also announced he will be working with
Consumer Affairs Minister Allan Lawrence on a public relations
and public information approach to help reduce consumer anger
over the rising food costs.
He promised to work to explain to consumers why farm prices
are rising.
"I think we can expect consumers to complain about rising
prices and it's up to us to point out the reasons behind the
increases."
Farm factory not necessarily most efficient
The farm factory type of operation isn't
necessarily the most efficient kind of
operation, according to Dr. Michael Fox, a
U.S. animal welfare spokesman.
Dr. Fox was one of the speakers at the
recent conference at the University of
Guelph on the ethical issues involved with
animal use in agriculture and science.
Dr. Fox said some large farming
operations abuse animals in an attempt at
greater production efficiency. He said
production techniques such as chaining
sows to concrete -floored stalls without
bedding, putting four or five hens in small
cages and keeping veal cattle in the dark
for most of the day amount to "efficiency
that outstrips common sense."
The speaker said more humane attitudes
on the part of farmers pay dividends
because the animals are healthier. He
added animal rights groups "are not ou* to
put factory farms out of business."
Earlier in the conference, Dr. J.F.
Hurnik of the university's department of
animal and poultry science said use of
animals by professionals doesn't mean
abuse. He said there is a higher probability
of mistreatment by humans who own
animals for emotional reasons.
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1979 PG. 21