For immediate release:
April 12, 2006

Ag Minister has lost control of farm income crisis: Barrett
Says Dombrowsky needs to step aside for real leadership in agriculture

Queen’s Park—Ontario’s Agriculture critic, MPP Toby Barrett, lambasted the provincial government for its policy of blaming the federal government rather than taking responsibility for its own failure in agriculture, today in the Legislature. 

“Minister Dombrowsky supported the McGuinty cuts to Agriculture even as Stephen Webster, Ontario Dairy Heifer Exporters president, camped in his car in front of Queen’sPark for the past month,” Barrett said.  “She served up a budget cut of 21%, and told farmers to go to Ottawa.”

“So last week new MPP Lisa MacLeod and I joined 10, 000 farmers in Ottawa,” Barrett continued.  “Federal Ag Minister Strahl wants to fix CAIS- but he cannot act unilaterally.”

The farm rally in Ottawa last week was the culmination of another winter of agricultural neglect from the McGuinty government.  The agriculture budget was slashed by 21%, and a senior Agriculture Ministry official was quoted saying that Ontario’s farmers should stop trying to compete with foreign goods.

“Minister, will you acknowledge that you’ve lost control of your ministry?” Barrett asked. “You’ve lost control of the Ministry of Agriculture, and we ask you to resign to allow someone to speak up for farmers.”

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For more information please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: (416) 325-8404, (519) 428-0446, or 1-800-903-8629