The Rural Voice, 1985-09, Page 16Do it Yourself
with steel products
from Lakeport Steel
Check our prices on random
material as well as prime
stock.
$18.95 per cwt.
21/2 x 21/2 x 3/8 Angle
3 x 3 x 5/16 Angle
3 x 23/4 x 1/4 Angle
21/2 x 21/2 x 5/16 Angle
Numerous Other Sizes
Available
.19° per foot
Fed. Tax included
11/2 O.D. 14 gauge
3 ft 10 inches to 4 ft 5 inches
.16° per foot
Fed. Tax included
1 O.D. 12 gauge
25 inches long
$2.00 per foot
31/2 O.D. 1/4 Wall
$1.55 per foot
31/2 O.D. 3/16 Wall
LAKEPORT
STEEL
HOURS:
Monday to Friday 8 to 5
Saturdays 10 to 1
For further information, call Lakeport
Steel at any of the following:
Hanover 1-800-265-5513
Goderich 1-800-265-4261
14 THE RURAL VOICE
OFA REPORT
Parity: Propaganda
or Practical Solution?
by Jack Wilkinson
Second vice-president
OFA
Have you ever been at a parity
meeting and heard this question ask-
ed of the speaker? "Once we get a
fair price for our product, how are
you going to control over-
production?" Answer: "In a world
with parity the wealth generated by
agriculture will fuel such a demand
that farmers will be unable to supply
sufficient food. Therefore there is no
need to discuss the issue of supply
and demand."
Now, that is having your cake and
eating it too. But the question for the
farmers of Ontario and Canada is can
we wait for a world with parity?
• Will there ever be a world where
raw materials and labour trade back
and forth with a truly fair price on
them?
• Will it ever be recognized by the
general population that the only real
wealth generated each year is that of
agriculture, fish, and lumbering?
• And possibly more to the point,
when will those growers and
harvesters be rewarded for the wealth
that fuels the entire economy?
If we do not want to wait for a
world that has parity and a world that
can afford to buy our product, how
do we control over -production in
North America? In the past few years
agriculture has outstripped the in-
crease in population in this country
and continent, and supply must be ra-
tioned or removed from our market
till agriculture and population come
into line again.
It is argued by some that the
government should purchase all
surplus product. A noble thought as
long as the goods are totally removed
from the market. But they cannot be
used to control the market as they
were under the Carter era in the U.S.
The grain bank effectively put a cap
price on the U.S. market; each time
corn reached the trigger price tonnes
rolled out of the grain bank and down
went the price of corn for another
month.
I don't want people to think that I
am against parity, for that is not true.
• I am in favour of a fair price for our
farmers.
• I am in favour of the farm economy
getting in gear again.
• And I am in favour of doing
something more than merely talking
about it.
The gurus of parity who I have
heard to date (from the U.S.) do not
wish to deal with some very practical
issues; it appears that they do not
want the great free -enterpriser
backlash of having to discuss produc-
tion controls.
They have to be discussed if we
want to move any closer to reality and
a working plan. I have always liked
the middle -road approach to
marketing because I believe there is