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The Rural Voice, 1980-03, Page 27Perth re-elects Van Klooster Perth County Federation of Agricul- ture member re-elected Tony Van Klooster of RR2, St. Paul's, as president of their organization for the coming year. The annual meeting was held in the Stratford Coliseum on Wednesday after- noon as part of the Perth County Ag. Week activities. The man elected as vice-president was Ron Christie, of RR2, Staffa and Bill MacDonald of RR1, Fullarton was elected second vice-president. Following a speech by Pembroke lawyer and dairyman Del O'Brien, members elected their township directors for the coming year. Those elected include Clayton Bender, Lloyd Karges and Wayne Hartung from Wallace Township; Eric Brocklebank and Tony Tollenaar from Elma Township; David Kropf, Paul Ogram and Norman Haid from Mornington; Bill Osborn, John Nater, Cecil Rose and Sheldon Ward from Logan; Norval Priestap, David Smith and Arnold Groenestege from Ellice; Clara Keller, Harry Greenwood, Roy McKay from Fullarton; Leo Kroonen and Wm. Lannin from Hibbert; Luke De Brabandere from Blanshard; Ken Green and .Vic Roland from Downie Township; Andre Gras and Henry Klooster from South Easthope and Ronald Hyde from North Easthone. Del O'Brien: Politics of farming BY ALICE GIBB Del O'Brien, a Pembroke lawyer, dairy farmer and owner of an airlines, told guests at Federation Day at the Stratford Coliseum on Feb. 13 that farmers have to start addressing themselves to the marketplace, because other people are now organizing the marketplace to the detriment of the farmer. Mr. O'Brien, a noted speaker on the politics of agriculture, said farmers can look to the few men who organized the Arab countries to form OPEC and by that move, affected the entire world's economy. He told the audience the first thing farshould do is work on their own self-esteem. He said farming is not only a very ancient profession but also a top profession since in many parts of the world, landowners are "number one" in their society. He said it's only in North America that farmers have slipped down the scale both economically and socially. Mr. O'Brien told the audience that according to writer Desmond Morris, it wasn't until farmers began to produce surplus food, so that existence was more that just a struggle for people to feed themselves, civilization could start to develop. He' said farmers putting food on the table enable the rest of the population to go on with what they're doing. The speaker criticized the Canadian situation where he said, "we are developing industry at the expense of farmers." He said this r 'licy started back in 1878, when prime n-' ist, r Sir John A. Ma ' •'tald built tariff waits ..round the country Jur "the benefit of industry and at the expense of the farmer." Mr. O'Brien said that policy might have been justified then when there wasn't much industry in Canada, but the problem is the policy has been carried on by succeeding governments. He said today thus bias is found in such things as freight rates on Canadian rail- roads. He said it is cheaper to ship goods from Sudbury to Montreal by rail than it is to ship them from Pembroke to Montreal, even though the distance is far less. He told the audience this is because the board of directors of the railroads sit in Toronto or Montreal. Mr. O'Brien said, "It frustrates me that farmers sit and live under this system and never complain. The dairy farmer, who told the audience he'd just returned from Europe, said Europe is the most protected market in the world for farm products and added farmers there are getting more than double what Canadian farmers are paid for their produce. "We would be into that market in a major way if we had somebody representing us at the GAAT talks," he said. The dairy farmer said 60 per cent of the EEC budget in Europe is for agriculture. He said Canada sells wheat to the EEC at $3 per bushel American and they sell it to their consumers for S6, and then take the difference and give it to their farmers. Mr. O'Brien told the audience, "If our leaders didn't believe in a cheap food policy we'd be getting better prices around the world (for produce.)" He added, "If grain prices are high, then milk prices will be high, and we'll (farmers) all be wealthy together." He said farmers must get their heads together; "since we're being exploited every day." Mr. O'Brien pointed out another problem is that agribusiness isn't sympathetic to farmers in this country. Mr. O'Brien said agribusiness should be supporting the farm and instead often at conferences it supports the promotion of cheap food policies. He also criticized the "agricultural intelligentsia" found at institutions like the University of Guelph and said they are paid by the government rather than the farmer so are interested in increasing production rather than the farmer's income. If the farmer doesn't face the marketplace "as unpleasant as it may be", Mr. O'Brien said the consequence will be that the farmer won't be on his own farm. He said the bottom line for farmers isn't how much you produce but how much money you make. Mr. O'Brien also attacked the major food chains and said, "the large retailer is your problem." He said it's not the middleman who has been eliminated by the food chains, but "all the little men in retailing." He said the next step is the elimination of processors and then farmers are next. He pointed out the American anti-trust legislation prevents food chains gaining control in that country the way they have in Canda where "the giants of industry are now in the food business." He said vast fortunes have been made in food, but not by the farmer. The speaker also warned farmers to consider just who owns their farm -"the bank or you?" He said there has been a tremendous shift of farm ownership to the city in the guise of banks. He said one of the farmer's defences was producer -elected marketing boards. He said unions managed to secure a better standard of living for employees in industry, and marketing boards could do the same for farmers. Mr. O'Brien told the audience it wouldn't be easy reaching the urban audience, since the farm voice is "shut out of the media." He said even the Globe and Mail doesn't have a columnist for farmers. Mr. O'Brien said the farmers best friends are the politicians but "we represent only a small percentage of the electorate." He concluded by saying farmers "have to be aware, have to be politically conscious, have to be active" in getting their message across. Right now, he said, the media is largely controlled by large corporations. He said he breathed a sigh of relief when Argus Corporation failed in its bid to buy FP Publications, since Argus owns Dominion. Store, among other things. Mr. O'Brien said farmers must realize that "the pressure groups that scream the most, have to be dealt' with by government. " THE RURAL VOICE/MARCH 1980 PG. 25 1