The Rural Voice, 1993-05, Page 54PERTH
John Drummond, President, R.R. 5, Mitchell NOK 1NO 347-2725
PCFA Office 229-6430
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER •The Rural Voice is provided to farmers
in Perth County by the PCFA.
Perth Federation meet with members of parliament
The Perth County Federation of
Agriculture and representatives
from commodity groups met with
Harry Brightwell, MP, and Karen
Haslam, MPP, on March 20, 1993.
The following is the
backgrounder that preceded the
issues that were discussed:
"The Perth County Federation
would Iikc to present a brief
backgrounder, to put our issues into
perspective and to remind our
governments about the overall
importance of agriculture to the
province and to Canada.
"In Canada, the agri-food industry
provides 22 per cent of all Canadian
jobs. This industry brings in a signi-
ficant proportion of our GNP. It is a
renewable source of wealth. With
proper management, there is a tre-
mendous potential to propel the Can-
adian economy, in many provinces,
out of recession. It provides for
regionalized economic activity,
which can be especially important in
the smaller Canadian provinces.
"For example, in Perth County,
we have 2,894 census farms, total
farm capital in this county amounts
to nearly $1.5 billion, total gross
receipts exceed $366 million, total
operating expenses are over $293
million. (Research shows that this
money is spent in the local
economy'. To put this into
perspective, our combined Festival -
Tourism totals reach approximately
$85-90 million')
"We provide 46,278 weeks of
employment for Perth from 1,328
farms. The estimated total
economic benefit to Perth County
reaches $2.5 billion annually'.
"We believe that our provincial
and federal governments are
If you have concerns
President
1st Vice Pres.
2nd Vice Pres.
Sec/Treas.
Perth North
Perth Central
Perth South
Blanshard
Downie
Ellice
Elma
Fullarton
Hibbert
Logan
NEH
SEH
Wallace
or questions, who should you contact?
John Drummond R.R. 5, Mitchell NOK 1NO
Larry Biesinger R.R. 4, Listowel N4W 3G9
Mary McIntosh R.R. 7, St. Marys N4X 1C9
Agnes Denham R.R. 1, St. Marys N4X 1C4
Regional Directors:
Paul Verkley R.R. 1, Atwood NOG 1B0
Kelli Crowley R.R. 2, Gadshill NOK 1J0
Mary McIntosh R.R. 7, St. Marys N4X 1C9
Other Members of the Executive:
Willie Keller R.R. 1, Mitchell NOK 1NO
Sharon Weitzel R.R. 2, Tavistock NOB 2R0
Township Directors:
Scott Graham St. Marys
Rick Debrabandere R.R. 1, St. Marys
Willie Erb Stratford
John Good R.R. 2, St. Pauls
R.R. 1, Sebringville
R.R. 1, Sebringville
R.R. 1, Sebringville
R.R. 2, Atwood
R.R. 1, Monkton
R.R. 1, Mitchell
R.R. 1, Fullarton
R.R. 1, Mitchell
R.R. 2, Mitchell
R.R. 2, Dublin
R.R. 2, Staffa
R.R. 2, Monkton
R.R. 3, Mitchell
R.R. 1, Stratford
R.R. 1, Gadshill
R.R. 2, Tavistock
R.R. 1, Shakespeare
R.R. 1, Gowanstown
Burnell Kipfer
Norval Priestap
Dave Smith
Ron Bowles
Susan Bedard
Willy Keller
Bruce Morris
Susan Christie
Bill French
Tom Melady
Alvin Dow
Fred Jung
Cecil Rose
Wayne Schmidt
Ivan Stueck
Sharon Weitzel
Bill Klooster
Rae Bender
347-2725
698-2937
393-6232
229-6430
356-9022
393-5716
393-6232
348-9753
273-0918
284-1300
229-6736
272-1147
393-5958
271-3399
393-6256
393-5908
356-2366
347-2596
348-9753
229-8735
229-8124
348-8749
345-2152
229-6508
347-2420
348-8726
625-8354
656-2379
273-0918
655-2504
343-5804
50 THE RURAL VOICE
shortsightedly continuing to ignore
this immense economic machine.
Farm populations of approximately
two to three per cent nationally and
provincially, seem to drive all
agricultural policy decisions.
Continued cutbacks and changes to
both Agriculture Canada and the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food are withdrawing support from
producers at local levels and the
agri-food industry. We would urge
an educational strategy at the
government level to allow bureau-
crats and policy makers and govern-
ment representatives to understand
better the tremendous importance of
this national resource and how
policy decisions made by intellectu-
als with no experience in the
industry can undermine its potential.
"It would be to the benefit of all
Canadians and to Canada if our
governments were to better allocate
government funds to these
important industries rather than to
continue to equate funding and
support levels with population."
The following were the issues
discussed at the meeting: forestry,
GATT, NAFTA and the Cana-
da/U.S. Free Trade Agreement, ver-
tical integration/transnationals/agri-
cultural policy, fair tax
commission/farm property tax
rebate program, Sewell commission,
jobsOntario, Ontario Training
Adjustment Board (OTAB), Ontario
Agricultural Training Institute
(OATI), food inspections and
production - Regulatory Review
September 1992, Ontario Hydro,
capital gains tax exemption,
inheritance tax/wealth tax, RRSP
tax rules, Bill 105 (stable funding),
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food (OMAF) - cutbacks, crop
insurance, trucking regulations.0
'Source 1991 Agricultural Statistics for Ontario -
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
'Source Stratford Economic Development Council
'Economists employ a factor of 7 to Gross Revenue
figures