Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

TIME TO RALLY

After hearing that both levels of government want to do more meetings and discuss the future of agriculture in Canada I wonder if it is time to bring all non supply managed farmers and their elected officials together for a major rally to get the point accross that wait and see is not an answer and we need results now. Is this a good idea and if so how do we get the ball rolling.

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Permalink Reply by John Donkers on February 26, 2010 at 4:50am
To rally or not too rally.. I guess the first question to ask is.. are we united enough or upset enough to pull off a large successful rally? Honestly the way the Ontario government has dealt with agriculture, the lack of support given or concern towards a completely unbalanced playing field within Canada it leads me to believe that we are seen as a joke and now are being abandond. Never in my life have I seen a more misguided, non business like group of politicians. With the E Health scandal costing a billion dollars and now green energy that will do nothing but offer a few jobs while huge profits go outside Canada,the costs of electricity will be HUGE and make our farms and manufacturing facilities that much more uncompetitive.

As farmers we should be extremely concerned with our futures. Ontario use to be the engine of Canada but with poor leadership and misguided policies, all that has been eroded to a point that I wonder how much longer can Ontario even compete within its own country.

Ontario should have everything going for it but this provincial government is about as wimpy as it gets and does not protect its own. If farmers want to be better then politicians then there is little choice but to rally.
Permalink Reply by Brent Royce on February 26, 2010 at 8:09am
What type of rally will get the attention of the political leaders?
Permalink Reply by JoAnne Caughill on February 26, 2010 at 10:30am
I think we will need a rally involving all non-supply managed agriculture (our own coalition) to take the message forward.
Permalink Reply by Brent Royce on February 28, 2010 at 1:33am
Standing on Queen's Park or Parliment HIll going to prove anything?
Permalink Reply by John Donkers on February 28, 2010 at 1:53pm
Obviously a rally is something that comes about when there are issues that are not being dealt with to a groups satisfaction. This non-supply coalition has be working tirelessly to get the government to act, it has also come up short and long terms plans to fix the problems that exist within Ontario. The Federal government is not to blame because it treats each province equally within agristability. When we look at Quebec, they fund there ASRA program to 100% by taking the Agristability money then topping the rest up with its own revenues. By doing this all sectors from the chain can survive and the province of Quebec benefits because it doesnt lose its producers, packers and in fact is gaining marketing share over Ontario.

So the focus is on the provincial government here. They have the ability to make the proper changes necessary to level out this unlevel playing field before its too late.

So yes a rally is totally necessary, if there is a way to get the public on our side that would be a major boost to the cause. Agriculture creates thousands and thousands of jobs, if people understood this I would hope they would support an action like this.
Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on March 2, 2010 at 5:08am
Hi John:

The only rallies that have been successful in my mind were the big ones in the USA years ago where Willie Nelson..John Mellencamp and other entertainers generated alot of support...Save the family farm...
I think in this day and age we need to do something that catches the consumer....

I do think we need to do something.
Permalink Reply by linda Hancock on March 3, 2010 at 4:36am
Hear in BC we are faced with the same problems. We held a meeting with some ranchers and everyone was disappointed in the lack of response from the governments local or federal. I think they just hope enough farmers will fail then they wont have to help. A rally would be good but all the ranchers I know are too busy trying to survive to spend time planning a rally.
When you go online and start looking i could not believe how many different agriculture groups there are and that is the problem we are not united enough in canada period. Agristability just doesnt work and the governments hide behind the program telling the public how they have a program in place to help farmers. What a crock. Some groups say a managed supply for beef wont work because a third or a half they cant decide which would have to exit the industry but the way things are now this will happen anyways.
If someone knows how we can set up a rally I would be there. I think there should be one in every province at the same time??
Permalink Reply by littlelamb on March 3, 2010 at 6:50am
"A rally would be good but all the ranchers I know are too busy trying to survive to spend time planning a rally."

This is where the organizations that we pay our fees to every year should come into play and plan the rallies. We actually switched to who we pay our fee to this year because we didn't feel that we were getting anything out of our membership with the OFA
Permalink Reply by JoAnne Caughill on March 5, 2010 at 4:30pm
I agree with John that it is the Provincial Government that needs to help us out right away to save this Industry. However I would not let the Federal Government off the hook so quickly. They have AgriStability which (even though Gerry thinks it does) IS NOT working for producers. His 80% satisfaction rating has to be many years old. They need to fix this program. Sheila Frasier, Auditor General has spoke severely against this program and it's ability to work as it should as outlined in the Farm Income Protection Act. We need to take Gerry to task on this program and make it stand up to their (Government's) own test of FIPA.

I think we need a MAJOR protest - and yes as pointed out in another email - it would be great if all Provinces could agree to protest together on the same dates. Anyone interested in this from other provinces can contact me through this chat forum. Let's work together.
Permalink Reply by Tom Murray on March 6, 2010 at 3:52am
JoAnne Caughill said:
I agree with John that it is the Provincial Government that needs to help us out right away to save this Industry. However I would not let the Federal Government off the hook so quickly. They have AgriStability which (even though Gerry thinks it does) IS NOT working for producers. His 80% satisfaction rating has to be many years old. They need to fix this program. Sheila Frasier, Auditor General has spoke severely against this program and it's ability to work as it should as outlined in the Farm Income Protection Act. We need to take Gerry to task on this program and make it stand up to their (Government's) own test of FIPA.

I think we need a MAJOR protest - and yes as pointed out in another email - it would be great if all Provinces could agree to protest together on the same dates. Anyone interested in this from other provinces can contact me through this chat forum. Let's work together.
Permalink Reply by Tom Murray on March 6, 2010 at 4:09am
I think a rally invoving all provinces at their own legislative buildings and one in Ottawa is ideal but it is a massive undertaking. Our representitives at all levels are not doing their job. It is to late this year and I wonder why I did not think of it sooner but I wonder if a good start would be having everyone ask for a refund from thier farm orginization. We keep telling every one that nothing they are doing is working but they all are still collecting their paychecks and it is time we made them hurt like we are. I am on board to help with any rally and firmly believe that the ones that are suffering are the ones that are going to have to make the time and take the effort that is required to get our points accross or lay down and let agriculture in Canada die.
Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on March 8, 2010 at 5:16pm
What other ways are there to generate the attention farmers need from the public and governments....

Peta and greenpeace etc do some major event that gains them some huge awareness with limited resources....

What good ideas do people have....

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