LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

Thursday 13 December 2007
MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

Assistance to farmers

Mr. Toby Barrett: The McGuinty government’s “don’t worry, be happy” approach is breaking the back of rural Ontario. The front page of the Ontario Farmer, “Pork and Beef farmers asking for help.”

Farmers are losing $65 per finished pig and $350 to $400 for fed cattle. Surging government policy-driven feed prices, rocketing European pork export subsidies and the Canadian dollar spell disaster.

Our cattlemen predict losses of more than $100 million in the last half of this year, and many hog and beef farmers fall through the cracks of CAIS.

When the pork sector faced disaster nine years ago, our government announced funding and it went into their hands within 40 days. Today’s farmers have been waiting a lot longer for this agriculture minister to speak up.

Greenhouse fruit and vegetable growers are feeling the heat as well. Surely the minister knows their concerns on energy costs and minimum wage increases and regulatory restrictions are ripping their bottom lines. Again, government has caused this; government must fix it.

Tobacco farm families have suffered a market meltdown—jacked-up tobacco taxes, a smoke-free Ontario war on tobacco, sees government sitting idly by as families lose their farms, houses and livelihoods.

Hort, beef, tobacco and hogs are reeling in the wake of McGuinty government policy, regulations and programs or lack thereof. Will this government finally announce help in this fall’s economic statement?