The Rural Voice, 2006-05, Page 56GREY
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
Email: grey@ofa.on.ca Website: www.ofa.on.ca/grey
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to OFA
Members in Grey County by the GCFA
Someone has to be involved to improve situation
Getting volunteers in any situation
in our lives is difficult at best, but when
it comes to a longer term commitment,
good luck. We can usually drag enough
friends together.to help us move
furniture, put in the in-laws' dock at
their cottage or help at a church
function once a year.
When it comes to a longer
commitment the excuses start rolling
out. Now don't get me wrong, many
farmers have more on their plate than
they can handle now, from the off -the -
farm jobs to all their own farm duties.
But someone has to be involved to keep
our important farm groups active and
moving forward to improve the sad
condition of farm finances in Ontario.
It is most interesting to note that
when I sit at a Grey County Federation
of Agriculture board meeting, the
people I share the room with most are
members of at least two other
organizations as well: I realize that
some people are born volunteers and ,
have trouble saying no to requests for
assistance from local groups, but they
can only be spread so thin. More people
have to get on board in the agricultural
community to save our farms from
government inaction. Being a volunteer
doesn't mean you have to be president
of the local OFA group but it does
mean supporting your local group at
rallies, meetings and other functions. If
others are willing to do the bulk of the
labour, please back them. When
farming has faded away and farmland
is just for the use of city residents to
hike and play, it will be too late. With a
lack of bodies at rallies, politicians lose
interest. They feel if most farmers don't
care, farming concerns can go on the
back burner.
The farm income fight continues
On April 5, 10,000 farmers from Ontario, Quebec and across Canada joined
together on Parliament Hill to tell the federal government what farmers need to
cure the income crisis. We are grateful to the grassroots organizers and our
colleagues from UPA (Quebec) in making sure the message was heard.
We would like to thank the farmers from Grey and Bruce Counties who made
the trek to Ottawa. Your commitment to agriculture is greatly appreciated by those
who were unable to attend.
However, the federal government has not yet committed to the multi-year
income programs Ontario and Canadian farmers need.
Ontario farmers need to ensure the federal government implements and
provides adequate funding for Risk Management, Self -Directed Production
Insurance, and horticulture programs as developed by our commodity
organizations. We also need the identified changes to the CAIS program in the
near term. Politicians need to hear from ALL Ontario Farmers:
Call, write, fax, e-mail and visit our MPs to tell them:
• Support the Risk Management and Production Insurance programs put forth by
farmers;
• Immediate bridge funding to the next APF is needed to keep farmers in
production;
• Terms of the funding must be flexible to allow provinces to help their producers —
one size does not fit all;
• Existing marketing systems such as supply management have to have ongoing
government support.
Paul Steckle, MP Huron -Bruce
30 Victoria Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2R6
Phone: 519-524-6938 or 1-800-465-1726 Fax: 519-524-9374
E-mail: steckle@hurontel.on.ca
Larry Miller, MP Bruce -Grey -Owen Sound
1131 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON N4K 2J1
Phone: 519-371-1059 Fax: 519-371-1752
E-mail: managerlarrymiller.ca
Helena Guergis, MP Simcoe-Grey
162 First Street, Collingwood, ON L9Y 1A7
Phone: 705-445-6762 Fax: 705-445-7157
Email: Guergis.h@parl.gc.ca
52 THE RURAL VOICE
All volunteers don't have to give
speeches or talk in front of an audience.
You don't need a university degree to
know your bottom financial line is in
red ink. Life experience qualifies all of
us to voice our concerns and/or stand at
a rally with a sign stating our position.
It's time to step up NOW !
On another topic I am more than a
little disgusted with the thinking of
some of the senior bureaucrats that .run
OMAFRA. These people, I thought,
were there to support agriculture in
Ontario but they seem to say to hell
with farmers — make it or get out of
business. Maybe Leona Dombrowsky
should have some detailed discussions
with her department heads to see who
they work for. They should be leading
the way by explaining to other
bureaucrats in other government
agencies, what the negative imbalance
is for the Canadian farmer. Ban imports
that don't follow safe labour laws with
a living wage. Ban imports that are
dumped at below the cost of
production. Ban imports that use
pesticides not allowed in Canada. Ban
imports from countries not following
the same environmental laws as
Canada. You get the picture.
The last item I wanted to mention
was the farming protests on Parliament
Hill on April 5. An excellent tum out
from Quebec was an example to us all.
It should be obvious by now why the
Quebec government treats its farmers
better and with more respect. The
Quebec farmer gets what he fights for
with massive turnouts at rallies and a
willingness to get involved. We must
show a unified voice to government.
PLEASE GET INVOLVED.O
— Submitted by John Hurst,
2nd Vice President
Grev County Federation of Agriculture
GREY COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS' MEETING
Thursday, May 25 — 8:00 p.m.
Grey County Agricultural Services Centre
meeting room (Grey Gables)
206 Toronto Street South, Markdale
Members are welcome to attend