There is a sense of urgency throughout tobacco country

The clock has been ticking and time has run out - the deadline for farmers to decide to convert their kilns to cure low-nitrosamine tobacco has arrived. There is a sense of urgency throughout tobacco country as farmers, and in many cases their bankers, make decisions on financing this year's crop.

But the issue is not just about money - the viability of our home-grown tobacco farm economy and its necessary system of orderly marketing and supply management is also at stake.

Many of us can recall the devastation of the early 1980s when tobacco production dropped by 31 per cent, and as a result 40 per cent of farmers were forced out of the business. This also resulted in a loss in market value of about $614 million, the closure of a leaf processing plant and a marketing exchange. Unemployment, poverty, family break-ups and reported wife and child abuse escalated, as did stress-related illnesses, depression and even suicides.

In the Deloitte and Touche economic study of 1995, it is mentioned that if the industry were to go through such another downturn, there may be no turning back.

Farmers will never be able to change the fact no matter how hard they work or how smart they are, the markets or the weather can always be against them. Now, more than ever, farmers need support from all who have prospered from their hard work, and the $5 billion in taxes governments collect each year from the sale of tobacco.

Other marketing boards, commodity groups and rural associations must work with agri-business to help rationalize the short and long-term policy deliberations of government. All this brings us back to the dilemma of what to do and how to do it. Government safety net programs and other forms of emergency assistance don't always work because they often do not have regard for the different needs of different commodities -- tobacco is a case in point.

Providing help for tobacco farmers differs from hog relief programs and from grain and oilseed revenue assistance. I feel all commodities must work together and recognize the different needs at different times of their respective economic cycles. Farm suppliers, tobacco workers, area municipalities all have a lot at stake. To their credit, councillors with both Norfolk County and the Town of Tillsonburg have passed resolutions in support of families dependent on tobacco income.

We all know tobacco is a major industry in Ontario - the Deloitte and Touche study confirmed this. The study identified 17,462 full and part-time jobs created by tobacco production in Norfolk, Brant, Haldimand, Elgin and Oxford. Of this number, 9,423 full-time jobs are created each year in tobacco country.

I do not want to see farmers forced off the farm and the possible closure of other facilities such as Simcoe Leaf and the Delhi tobacco warehouse. These could be realities if offshore tobacco is substituted for Canadian product. I believe it's more efficient and safer to have seven million Canadians smoking a legal "Canadian" product than smoking imported tobacco in which the constituents may be unknown.

Historically, farm families looked to the future with pride and confidence. Today, the hardships far outweigh the thrill that once came with being your own boss and the satisfaction of seeing every family member working toward the success of the farm enterprise.