Canadian Farmers…the Endangered Species.

January 31, 2001

OTTAWA-Today Jay Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River, wasted no time in holding the federal government to account for ignoring the plight of the family farm in the Speech from the Throne.

“Mr. Speaker, in yesterday’s Throne Speech…Canadian farmers were hoping to hear a federal vision for agriculture, instead they were told to move “beyond crisis management” and find better uses for their land.

They were hoping to hear a commitment to support farm families and vigorously fight the foreign subsidies that have suppressed grain prices and oppressed the family farm. 

Are farmers surprised to have been ignored by this government yet again?  No, they expected it!  Nick Parsons from Farmington, BC in my riding, has once again brought his combine, Prairie Belle, to Parliament Hill seeking fairness for Canadian farm families. 

Last year, in a private meeting, the Prime Minister assured Nick that his government was doing all it could for western farmers.  Yet when they had the chance to offer some hope in the Throne Speech to farm families, it wasn’t a priority. 

The Liberal’s agricultural legacy of inaction and indifference is a disgrace and yesterday’s Throne Speech provided the latest evidence of why farmers are on the endangered species list,” asserted Hill 

Despite numerous appeals from the western Premiers, farm organizations, and the federal political parties, the only reference to the farm income crisis in the Throne Speech is as follows:

“…The Government will help Canada’s agricultural sector move beyond crisis management – leading to more genuine diversification and value-added growth, new investments and employment, better land use, and high standards of environmental stewardship and food safety” 

“The government has once again completely failed farm families,” Hill concluded in disgust.