The Rural Voice, 1999-12, Page 6GIFTS
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2 THE RURAL VOICE
Feedback
Our water may be
gone when we need it
Who's fighting for the
little guy?
There are many things I don't
understand. but I am especially
baffled by the lethargy of today's
farmers. First the pork producers let
their marketing board, the OPPMB,
be emasculated,by the Ontario Farm
Products Marketing Commission by
giving up the right to be the sole sales
agent for pork producers and give the
power to Maple Leaf and Quality
Packers v,ithout so much as a peep of
protest out of them. I wonder if all
the farmers who fought so hard for
supply management for pork
production have now retired and if
their sons have never read up on the
"whys" of a marketing board.
Up 'til now I haven't heard any
farmer protest against the proposal by
the same commission to take away
the vote of small farmers in all
commodities and give it to the big
ones by proposing that the value
of a vote be determined by the
volume of products produced by a
farmer. This, of course, will give full
power to the large producers. Are all
marketing boards run by large
producers'? If so the little guys should
re-examine who'they will elect to
their various boards.
I often ask myself "where are the
people who fought me when I
opposed supply management for pork
producers?" Where are the successors
of such brave people like Gertie
Blake who was not afraid to beard
some 400 hostile pork producers in
Toronto to promote supply
management for hogs? Have they
given up standing up for their rights
or do they trust the large farmers of
the Marketing Commission to work
-on their behalf"?0
Adrian Vos
Blyth.
People with bank accounts trust
their banks to give them back their
money when they need it. Imagine
being told that you can't withdraw
your money because the bank has
given it away, or lost it!
Similarly. we trust our
governments to protect our water
reserves for when we need water. 1t
appears that this trust is misplaced,
and our water might not be available
when we need it.
Last May 4 the then -Ontario
Environment Minister. Norman
Sterling, announced a moratorium on
new water permits for Targe
companies. This delay was in
response to an outpouring of concern
about drought, dry wells, a line-up of
new companies sensing big profits,
and a lack of knowledge about our
water resources. On June 15. less
than six weeks later. that moratorium
was quietly lifted. The Globe and
Mail has obtained a letter from the
environment ministry to a gravel
industry lobby group saying so.
Why is it again open season for
water extractors? A planned scientific
study of Grey County water resources
is yet to begin. In October the
.ministry granted a permit to a
subsidiary of a large Mississauga
company named Echo Springs. They
are allowed to take 176 million litres
per year for two years. Now all they
need is a rezoning from Artemesia
Township. Their enormous parking
lot just west of Highway 10 seems to
have been designed for the largest
tanker trucks in existence.
Is the Ontario environment
ministry disorganized, or are we
watching a shell game? Whichever
the truth, the result is the same: our
water might not be available when we
need it.
In Canada and Ontario, even the
most stubborn government will
respond to public concerns IF
ENOUGH PEOPLE
COMMUNICATE THESE
CONCERNS. It doesn't take long to
phone the Environment Minister
Tony Clement at 416-314-6739, or