The Rural Voice, 1996-11, Page 41r
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s
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t
s
a
lot of lobbying on your part to make
it happen", she said.
Another example of partnerships
was the creating of NISA by federal
and provincial politicians and farm
leaders. Canada has developed an
income stabilization program
acceptable to the World Trade
Organization because it focuses on
the whole farm, not commodities. It
only came about because everyone
worked together, she said.
The fifth key issue, Stewart said,
is creating regulations that promote
activity, not stall it. She pointed to
the work of the CFA and the OFA in
lobbying against the initial proposals
for a fee-for-service pesticide
regulatory system. They pointed out,
she said, that it isn't just farmers who
benefit from pesticide testing but all
of society so perhaps society should
pick up some of the cost.
That showed, the nation's head
tax collector said, "that taxation ain't
all bad." Taxation is a way for
society to co-operate for the greater
good, Stewart said. "It's a way of
making the whole greater than the
sum of its parts."
Stewart tackled some cont-
roversial subjects like firearms
registration. Though she and her
husband have guns on their St.
George -area farm, she said, when
friends and neighbours say they'd
feel safer if guns were registered, it
didn't seem like a major hardship.
She reminded rural women that every
six days a woman is killed in her own
home as the result of a gunshot.
Mary McIntosh stepped down
after two years as president of the
Perth Federation. She said she had
focussed, during her term, on raising
the profile of agriculture and praised
her executive and the various
committees for their work. She
challenged the audience to stand up
and speak out for what they believed
in.
Elected president was Anne
Sebben of Bornholm. Andy DeVries
of R.R.1, Atwood, is first vice-
president and John Hicknell, R.R.1,
Sebringville, is second vice-
president. Regional directors are
Mary McIntosh for Perth South, Ivan
Stueck for Perth Central and Paul
Verkley for Perth North.0
News in Agriculture
Preserving farmland
topic at Grey
Federation annual
The failure of a proposed
farmland preservation policy to gain
approval at the October meeting of
the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
was a hot topic at the annual meeting
of the Grey County Federation in
Flesherton, October 18.
The proposed policy had been
drafted after Grey County sponsored
a resolution at the 1995 OFA annual
meeting calling for OFA to debate
and adopt a land use policy. Brian
Milne, OFA regional director for
Grey South, sits on a sub -committee
that helped draft the proposal and
expressed frustration over the fact the
proposal was sent back to the
committee to be reworked.
"My own feeling is that a
Federation of Agriculture that
doesn't have a land use policy that
says agriculture is the right use of
farmland isn't right," he said. "Either
you're a believer in this industry and
you're going to be a farmer or you
are just holding land waiting for a
developer.
"Am I going in the right direction
with this?" Milne asked the audience.
Elmer Scarrow said he supported
this policy but he'd heard a lot of
other people argue that if you can't
make money from farming you
should be allowed to sell land for
something that can make money.
Karl Chittick said a farmer must
have a commitment to farming. "Thc
land to me is what gives me and my
family a future." Farmland should be
there for farming and not to he built
on, he said.
Grey County Warden Don
McCausland generally agreed with
the OFA proposal but with a
reservation. "I've always felt there is
agricultural land and there is rural
land," he said. Agricultural land
should be protected but rural land
could be developed. Grey County's
new official plan tries to distinguish
between the two kinds of land, not
just on the basis of the class of
farmland involved, he said.
Milne agreed with the distinction,
saying he didn't want people to see
the proposal as being against all
development. "I'm really happy with
what been going on in the official
plan," he said. Milne asked farmers
to talk to him about their feelings
before the next provincial board
meeting.
Tony Morris, OFA president, also
talked about what he called "a
healthy discussion" at OFA over the
proposal. It gave him a sense of the
incredible diversity in a province that
stretches from Emo to Ottawa and
back to Windsor -Essex, he said.
"There are differences in the way we
live, the way we farm, even in
language."
Although no agreement was
reached, he said, "The most
important thing is that we work
together, that people have the
opportunity to express their
opinions."
Guest speaker for the meeting was
Ginty Jocius, president of the
Outdoor Farm Show and of his own
advertising agency. He urged farmers
to be those who create change, or
those who adapt well to change, not
those who were afraid of the future or
run from it.
He also announced the move of
the Outdoor Farm Show to the
University of Guelph's research farm
at Woodstock. There are better soil
conditions there, he said, and it will
allow companies to set up permanent
test plots because it will be a long-
term arrangement. "It's a win-win
situation" he said. The show will also
get a new name, the Canadian
Outdoor Farm show.
In the elections, Ken Furlong was
returned to a third term as president.
He praised the work of the township
federations in the past year,
particularly those in Holland and
Sullivan townships for their response
to the needs of their neighbours when
a tornado struck the townships last
spring.
Brian Milne remains first vice-
president and Bob Rodger, second
vice-president. Regional directors for
1997 are Pearl Bumstcad, for Grey
North; Brian Milne, Grey Central and
Bob Brassington, Grey East.O
NOVEMBER 1996 37