Times-Advocate, 1988-10-05, Page 27Foot in the Furrow
Sometimes old broom works as well as new
Times -Advocate, October 5, 1988
By Bob Trotter
..New brooms do sweep clean but
sometimes, the old broom works
just as well.
Now that Jack Riddell is firmly
established as Ontario's ag minister,
he has disbanded the Ontario Agri-
culture Council, a group of people
.outside government with plenty of
education anti experience in farm-
ing. it was supposed to tackle tong -
range problems and report regularly'
to the paper -pushers involved with
the ministry of agriculture and
taxi.•
he council was unique, in my
opinion, because the members did
not belong to that faceless crowd of
bureaucrats at Queen's park either
within orWithout. the ministry.
"They were people who knew a great
deal about farmers and farming.
• 1 knew two members of the coun-
cil personally. and heard the chair;
man speak on at. least two occa-
sions. •
Charlie Munro, for instancc,.is a
dairy farmer from Woodstock who
was a former president Of the Onta-
rio Federatiort of Agriculture, the
TEACHER APPRECIATION - The student council of McCurdy School
at Huron Park provided hamburgers Friday noon as part of Teacher Appre-
ciation Day. Assisting principal Don Finkbeiner are.president Tina Gibson,
secretary Michelle Bowerman and treasurer Tina Riley.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
and the International Federation of
Agricultural Praiucers. You would
trauel many miles to find a better,
more experienced spokesman for
farmers.
And Gordon Hill, one of my fa-
vorite people in Ontario, former
president of the Ontario .Farmers
Union and the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture. He brought the Ontario
federation into this century when he
was president. He took it from a
weak, ineffective group of farm or-
ganizations to an organization H.ith
guts and •determination, the true
voice of Ontario agriculture.
- A white -bean grower and hog
farmer, Gordon Hill had the respect
and admiration of just about every
other farm organization in this
province and, indeed, throughout
most of Canada.
Chairman of the council was Dcl
O'Brien, a lawyer and an airline ex-
ecutive but also,.a farmer. I heard
O'Brien speak on two occasions. He
has an insight into agriculture that
tem: people have shown. He is able,
with his law degree, to find things
in legislation and precedence that
few others see.
1 suppose, because the council
was set up under a Conservative
government - I believe it was Den-
nis Timbrcll's idea - the Liberals at
Queen's Park decided it should go.
Nir. Riddell has promised that the
council will not he forgotten. Ile
says a restructured body will he ap-
pointed to replace the council and
he says he will seek advice from the
members.
But 1 am of the opinion that the
former members should be appoint -
Said the Northern girl: "Men are
all alike."
Agreed the Southern girl: "Men are
all Ah like. too."
ed to Riddell's new group. 1 am in
complete agreement with John
Phillips, editor-in-chief of Farm and
Country magazine, when he sug-
gested in a recent editorial that Rid-
dell "has no other option" but to
appoint these farm leaders to any
"restructured body."
They are erudite, articulate, expe-
rienced, respected members of the
farm community.
I fear a new group may be ap-
pointed from among the "hacks,
flaks and toadies", as Phillips says,
around Queen's Park and the agmi-
nistry.
O'Brien, as I understand it, has
been asked by Mr. Riddell to help
set up a restructured body that could
act as a council to advise the minis -
one
Page 11A
ter.
What was so wonderful about the
original Ontario Agriculture Coun-
cil was that it operated on a budget
of about $200,(00 a year. The peo-
ple in charge - people like O'Brien,
Munro and Hill - certainly know
the value of a buck and God knows,
we need more people like them at
the helm these days.
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