The Rural Voice, 2002-12, Page 50Aar
Ag News
Keep MPPs informed, Peters tells farmers
From soaring electricity bills to
concerns about education you should
phone your MPP and let him or her
know about conditions that concern
you. Liberal Agriculture Critic Steve
Peters told the annual meeting of the
Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture. October 25.
Speaking two weeks before
Premier Ernie Eves announced a
freeze on electricity rates, Peters,
MPP for Elgin -Middlesex -London.
said the majority of calls coming in
to his constituency office were about
Hydro cost increases and government
MPPs needed to hear these issues
too. "If you're concerned about
what's happening in Hydro you need
to be calling Bill Murdoch and Helen
Johns," Peters told the 90 present.
"Bring them examples (of increases).
Have them raise it in caucus."
The advice was part of an on-
going theme Peters dealt with of the
need for farmers and their
organizations to educate their MPPs
about agricultural issues. Of the 103
MPPs in Ontario it would be
generous to say eight have farm
Murray Calder
Member of Parliament
Dufferi n -Peel -Wellington -Grey
I wish you and your
families a very Merry
Christmas and a safe
and happy New Year.
141 Main St. N., Box 10
Mount Forest, ON, NOG 2L0
(519) 323-9174
or 1-800-263-5383
www.murraycalder.ca
46 THE RURAL VOICE
backgrounds, he said. "It's truly one
of the challenges that agriculture
must focus on. There's a lot of work
to do to educate MPPs."
Peter, a former mayor and
councillor from St. Thomas who won
election in 1999, admitted he was a
city boy but he comes from a large
rural riding in Elgin where "tobacco
rules". He has had to learn about a
wide range of agriculture, he said.
One advantage to his background is
that he comes to agriculture without
any bias of being involved in one
commodity or another.
Another area of education needs
to be with the bureaucracy, Peters
said, noting that ministries "tend to
work in silos", only being involved
in issues specific to their own depart-
ment. But agriculture has issues that
go across ministries and that reality
doesn't seem to have gotten across in
Queen's Park, he said.
As an example of that kind of
thinking Peters cited his own party's
clean air plan. Agriculture wasn't on
the mind of most of his colleagues
when plans for greater use of
biodiesel and ethanol were discussed,
he said. Dalton McGinty, Ontario
Liberal Party Leader, however,
understood that cleaning the air by
use of these "green" fuels is an
economic issue by helping bring jobs
to rural communities as well as
helping the environment and
improving health through better air.
"It's a win, win, win, win situation,"
Peters said.
The Liberal plan calls for
mandating five per cent ethanol
content in all gasoline sold in the
province as a start, increasing to 10
per cent later on, he said. Currently
the only major oil company to blend
ethanol into its gas is Sunoco. "We
need to force other companies to
include ethanol," he said.
The plan has not yet revealed how
it would get more ethanol and
biodiesel in place but "we're going to
need more than tax incentives,"
Peters said.
Too often the Toronto -centred
thinking in government means
policies that work in cities like
Toronto and London are imposed on
rural areas where they don't work.
This kind of lack of recognition of
the difference between urban and
rural leads to policies like the
funding formula for education, he
said.
With a provincial election now
just around the corner it's a good
time for farmers and their
organizations to lobby politicians, he
said. Answering a question about
how to help more young farmers get
into the business Peters advised "If
you have something in mind that we
should be doing. let us know. All
three parties will be looking for
issues."
One of the issues that most parties
won't likely jump on is a proposal in
the Odyssey Report issued by former
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
President Roger George that a tax be
levied on all food as a way to fund
agricultural programs. "Nobody
wants to talk about it but it's an
interesting idea," he said. "I can't tell
you that any party of any stripe
would introduce it (as a policy)." He
said he was surprised the media
didn't pick up on the suggestion.
Ron Bonnett, OFA vice-president,
said he was disappointed the media
didn't zero in on the food tax
proposal. It was included in the
report to create discussion, he said.
The report's authors (of which
Bonnett was one), wanted people to
realize there is a cost to provide safe,
cheap food.
Peters agreed with Bonnett's
premise, saying that the Nutrient
Management Act is bringing in
regulations which farmers must work
under but so far there has been no
recognition of the cost involved for
farmers. In his three-hour drive to the
meeting he looked at the number of
livestock farms and mentally
calculated the cost of farmers
complying with the regulations. "I
don't think we can force you out of
business to make you comply," he
said. The same reality exists with
food safety initiatives. "We haven't
come to the table with the dollars to
support your efforts."
Other partners in the food industry
whether processors like Maple Leaf
Foods or retailers like Sobeys are
doing very well financially "but the
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