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8 THE RURAL VOICE
Jeffrey Carter
It's okay to panic
Jeffrey
Carter is a
freelance
journalist
based in
Dresden,
Ontario.
"Don't be reluctant to step on the
heels of your leaders; if they don't
hear you, replace then. Farm leaders
who are reluctant to 'stick out like a
sore thumb' in this economic climate
might as well be at home."
- Gordon Hill, Varna
Gordon Hill's words are apt. The
former president of the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture hasn't been
afraid to speak his mind in the past,
even when most other farm leaders
were not particularly interested.
I remember when Hill spoke at the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
annual convention several years ago.
He was encouraging Ontario's
biggest farmer organization to back
"Compare the Share" — the study
that shows just now small the
farmers' share of the consumers'
food dollar is.
The reaction in the room was
polite but muted. The OFA leader-
ship, at the time, was not,prepared to
take even this modest step. Anyone
with less confidence than Hill might
have felt just a little foolish.
Times do change.
The OFA and the National
Farmers Union membership are
actually on the same page as far as
Compare the Share is concerned,
although perhaps feeling a bit
uncomfortable about the develop-
ment. They're funding an update of
this study that was initiated by former
Lambton-Middlesex MP Ralph
Ferguson around 1990.
More telling yet is the OFA
decision to organize a protest rally at
Queen's Park on March 2. No doubt,
the organization's executive members
are feeling the pressure farmers who
have been angered the ongoing
agricultural income crisis.
It's just the way things need to
work.
Farm leaders, whether they're with
the OFA or some other organization,
cannot be effective if they're
operating in a vacuum. When times
are difficult, they need to hear about
it.
Jack Wilkinson, another former
president of the OFA, understands
this. He once said that if the
grassroots membership are not behind
him pushing, he might as well forget
about it and head back to his little
farm in Eastern Ontario.
Still, it's also important to
remember the farm leaders are on
your side.
They put in a lot of time and
effort, though it must be frustrating to
see the results. If you're in the
background pushing these folks, push
away, but at least have some respect.
I think the pushing has spurred
organizations like the OFA into
action. Their decision to have the
rally is appropriate, though it might
have come sooner.
Kudos to the Lanark Landowners'
Association for closing down
Highway 401. It just the right kind of
"push" needed to spur others into
action. While closing down Ontario's
most important transportation route
seems an extraordinary step, it was
performed in a reasonable manner.
No one was hurt.
The farmers who closed the
highway were willing to stand out
like the "sore thumb" Hill describes.
Now it is time for others to do the
same thing.
Farmers may no longer be a big
part of the population, but if they're
willing to stand together, they can
still form one heck of a big sore
thumb.
Protest may seem to be a drastic
step, almost a panic response to any
given situation. Yet panic is not
entirely inappropriate. If your house
is burning down, drastic steps are
necessary. Panic, combined with a
healthy dose of reason, does have its
place.0