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Times Advocate, 1994-7-20, Page 20Page 20 Times -Advocate, July 20, 1994 FARM IIPl)ATF. L4411 One Foot in the Furrow ,rww By Bob Trotter It is not too dangerous a past - time to sit behind a keyboard and bash the Americans for be- ing isolationists. I have been do- ing it for years. But it takes a lot of moxie to go right into the eagle's nest and do some yankee-bashing south of the border. That is exactly what Canadian Trade Minister Roy MacLaren did last month when he spoke to about 100 bankers, business executives and diplomats at a luncheon in the Big Apple itself, New York City. MacLaren said the North American Free Trade Agree- ment was a great idea but the United States is following a "beggar thy neighbour" policy with Canada that threatens to derail the spirit of free trade in the Western Hemisphere. "Powerful players act as if multi -lateral, regional and bilat- eral negotiations are little,more than simple manoeuvres in an international 'us -versus -them' war for jobs, growth, and most important, technology," Mac - Laren told the gatherin&. "Although we (Canada and the U.S.A.) have created the world's largest trade relation- ship - one in which the vast ma- jority of two-way trade flows without impediment - Canada sfill faces a number of corrosive disputes that reflect, for the most part, the triumph of secto- rial, domestic political interests over broader national ones," MacLaren said. Farmers are well aware of what the trade minister was re- ferring to: grain, pork, lumber and steel. The agricultural lobby in the United States, as I have said time and again, ad nauseum, is one of the strongest in that country and that country has He Won't Come In From The Barn on Blyth stage By Erin Lobb T -A staff BLYTH - With two cows, three pigs and a some chickens for com- pany, Aylmer Clark Won't Come In From the Barn. Blyth Festival held a full house Thursday evening for the en- tertaining comedy about a stubborn Huron County farmer's refusal to modernize. Clark (Played by Ted Johns) spends over 400 days in his barn avoiding the reality of his rundown farm, his out of date methods and his changing family. Despite the national interest expressed by the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine mag- azine, and all the local newspapers, Aylmer won't budge. Rose Clark, his wife (played by Janet Amos), tries to lure him to Ireland. His son, Wayne Clark (played by David Younge), tries to convince him that milking ma- chines and -automated silos are the way to go. Anton, a European neighbour (played by Cliff Saun- ders), offers to buy the farm. Meanwhile the government in- spector is ready to -close down the entire farm operation. But, nothing will get Aylmer out of the barn. The set is a beautifully con- structed replica of the inside of a barn, complete with fieldstone walls, and a hayloft. Set Designer Glenn Davidson has brought in a Jersey cow and a Holstein to com- plete the effect. A few giggles erupted from the crowd when the pigs began to scrap in their pen. Ted Johns, who is also the play- wright, has become Aylmer for the He Won't Come In From the Barn, starring Ted Johns, right, as Aylmer Clark, and David Younge, as Wayne Clark, has played to several full houses at Blyth Festival Theatre. r Your skid steers deserve the heavy-duty protection of a "Beefy Baby"! IN Recessed beads and protruding rim shield stop objects from wedging between rim and tire. ■1r2 extra inch of sidewall rubber resists punctures and flats. 10 x 16.5 8 ply 8153. ZTR1018P Other sizes available •L Sales & Service Phone(519)2 'f' (519) 236-7330 tffi M Street, E., Zurich r second time. Ile Won't Come In From the Barn was originally per- formed. in Blyth in 1977. The script is based on a true story of a local Huron County farmer. Director Paul Thompson has slightly shifted the time period to the 90's to reflect the current polit- ical trends. An irate traditionalist farmers' association approaches Aylmer to make him farmer of the year, as long as he stays in the barn. Real-life partner Janet Amos de- serves credit for her role as Rose. Her dowdy clothes, scratchy voice, and shuffling movements perfectly suit her charactertocreate an en- dearing grandmotherly type. She nicely balances Johns tendency to be overly dramatic at times. He Won't Come In From the Barn runs until September 2. Tickets arc available at the box office or by calling (519) 523-9300. some mighty powerful lobbyists who have been recognized for a century. They are better at it than their Canadian counter- parts, believe me. They have the ear of the politicians to a far greater degree than the farm lob- by in Canada. A war of words has been go- ing on for several years, ever since the free trade agreement was signed five years ago. In spite of the fact that Canadian negotiators have been trying to play by the book, they have been stymied by American stub- bornness and pure Yankee bull - roar. Even when decisions have gone against them, the Ameri- can negotiators keep right on trying. It has been frustrating for Canada because MacLaren is right. The free trade agreement was signed in good faith by all parties but the domestic political interests in the U.S. have contin- ued to foil Canadian negotiators. One of the reasons the so- called "farm" lobby is so power- ful in the U.S. is the fact that about 85 percent of the produc- tion of food in Amerida comes from about 15 percent of the producers. Most of them are in- volved in a vertical integration plan controlled by huge con- glomerates with pots full of money to spend on political campaigns. We are not just talk- ing about farmers here. We are talking megabucks by big com- panies who can make or break a politician. In Canada, we have tried to preserve the family farm by making it difficult for national or multi -national conglomerates to gain control of the food in- dustry. We have nurtured, through marketing boards, tradi- tions and good governments, the family farm to keep it viable. In so doing; of course, the "farm" lobby means farmers, not big companies who can bud- get big bucks to elect politi- cians. MacLaren said U.S. isolation- ism is higher now than at any time since it refused to join the League of Nations after the First World War. I believe him and I admire him for having the intes- tinal fortitude to go right into the enemy's camp to say it. 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