STONEWALL, Man. – Gordon Grenkow rushed to load a semi with grain,
threw on some clean clothes, grabbed some hand-scribbled notes, then
raced off to see the federal standing committee on agriculture.
He was late, only semi-prepared, but glad to be there to represent
local farmers’ concerns.
“I only heard about this last night,” said Grenkow, who runs a dairy
farm outside Winnipeg.
“It’s very short notice.”
Both he and the committee’s chair, Charles Hubbard, said many producers
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didn’t realize the committee was touring the Prairies.
“A lot of farmers weren’t even aware that we were coming,” fumed
Hubbard during a break in the first morning of producer presentations.
“We had different farm groups calling us telling us that.”
Hubbard thought newspaper editors and radio station news managers might
have ignored the committee’s letters that detailed its touring
schedule.
The committee is made up of members of parliament from all federal
parties. It is visiting the Prairies Feb. 18 – 22 as part of a national
tour to hear farmers’ concerns with federal farm policy.
Appearing before the committee, Betty Green of the Manitoba Cattle
Producers Association said disease monitoring and control efforts by
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency need to be beefed up.
She also said the federal government must make sure its agricultural
policies are trade neutral and don’t endanger the cattle industry.
Marcel Hacault of Manitoba Pork said the federal government should
ensure that cross border traffic is flowing quickly.
Representatives of chicken and milk producers said the federal
government must ensure international trade deals are fair for
supply-managed industries.
Grenkow said the federal government needs to give young farmers hope so
they can see a future for themselves in agriculture.
Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk said she was worried about
the direction the federal government was pushing safety net programs.
She said Manitoba and Saskatchewan farmers, who rely on grains and
oilseeds rather than supply-managed commodities, are already being
treated poorly by present safety nets. Any further weakening will hurt
the farmers who need safety nets the most, she said.
And the government can’t help farmers if it doesn’t increase its
overall commitment.
“What we need is the funding,” said Wowchuk.
Canadian Alliance MP Howard Hilstrom inadvertently sparked a show of
support for the Canadian Wheat Board. During an exchange with Canadian
Co-operative Association president Glen Tully, Hilstrom launched into
an attack on the board’s export monopoly.
Tully defended the board, causing numerous farmers in the room to break
into spontaneous applause.
Although many farmers weren’t aware of the meeting, dozens came to the
Stonewall event.
“What little (promotion the committee) did do got them a pretty good
turnout,” said Grenkow.
“If you had proper advertising you’d probably have had (many more).”
