Queen’s Park - Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett asked Ontario’s Agriculture Minister today what her role was in recent negotiations pertaining to a package for the province’s tobacco growers.
“Minister, you were at the table. What went wrong with these negotiations? Can you inform this House, inform farmers, residents of Brant, Oxford, Norfolk and Elgin, what was Ontario’s position at that meeting at the table? Farmers do have a right to know what happened.”
Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky responded by saying that growers certainly had the right to know what occurred and that’s why she was thankful to see representatives from the tobacco growing community at the table.
Feeling that her answer was unacceptable, Barrett further questioned Minister Dombrowsky regarding the use of Ontario tobacco taxes that would fund a package.
“Your Ontario government has raised cigarette taxes a number of times since coming to office,” Barrett said. “Your government obviously likes imposing new taxes and special taxes. You do like the idea of the feds imposing a tax to help out tobacco growers. That’s like you buying a car with someone else’s money, minister, but you publicly do favour a buyout.
“Will you now go forward with the use of Ontario cigarette taxes to help the four counties and their farmers to get out of this mess?”
Minister Dombrowsky explained that the Ontario Government believes smokers should pay for the exit through a Federal tax, and then reminded the House of the $50 million that flowed to tobacco country through the provincial/federal Tobacco Adjustment Assistance Program.
Following Question Period, MPP Barrett stressed the importance of the precedent set not only by the TAAP program, but also that of the Redux program in the 1980s.
“The precedent is there,” Barrett said. “If we ever needed government to come forward, it is now.”
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For more information please contact
MPP Toby Barrett at: 1-800-903-8629 |
