Apology
Re: (Sean) Pratt’s article “Canadian farmers less grey than we assume”: As reported in your July 5 issue, the average age of a census farm operator was 48 years in 1996, according to the Census of Agriculture. This figure is correct and relates to the 385,610 farm operators reported on the census questionnaire.
However, the article also contained a personal hypothesis on why a higher number is typically quoted for the age of the operators. This personal comment was inappropriate and unfounded, and I apologize to the farm organizations for it. I should have remained focussed on the statistics in my conversation with Mr. Pratt.
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Topsy-turvy precipitation this year challenges crop predictions
Rainfall can vary dramatically over a short distance. Precipitation maps can’t catch all the deviations, but they do provide a broad perspective.
I would appreciate if you could inform your readers in your Open Forum section of this fact.
– Ray Bollman,
Agriculture Division,
Statistics Canada,
Ottawa, Ont.
ILO handling
I find it ironic that the Alberta government will have the final say on intensive livestock projects. It just sounds to me like intensive livestock operations projects will be rubber-stamped without any thought to environment issues or health concerns of the people of Alberta.
There has been a reference that ILO projects will be handled similar to projects in the oil and gas industry by a board appointed by the provincial government, in your paper.
I’m not satisfied with the handling of the oil and gas industries flaring of waste gases, release in air of toxic and cancer-causing substances and the use of 45 billion gallons a year of fresh ground water for oil field flood projects in Alberta.
After the Gulf War there were advances used in technology to stop flaring and release of toxic and cancer-causing substances in the Middle East oil producing countries by some of same oil and gas companies that operate in Canada. Are the Canadian people, especially rural citizens, not as valuable as those of other countries?
I do not trust the Alberta government to protect the environment and the health of the people. ILOs not only produce some air quality issues but also water quality issues. There is also the overuse of antibiotics when you raise animals in crowded barn conditions. I can’t understand why animal rights people are not more vocal on the welfare of these animals raised in such stressed conditions.
There is an increase in Alberta of cancer, asthma, allergies and Multiple Sclerosis to name a few health problems at present. Do we have to add blue-baby syndrome, resistance to antibiotics, nervous system, liver and kidney damage to this list of health problems on the increase? These can be produced by improper handling of intensive livestock permits.
As a canary of the human race, I find the way the Alberta government handles environment and health issues alarming. I question in that, this is a way of committing genocide of the rural population.
– Marilyn Thomas,
Alliance, Alta.
Watson policy
Barry Wilson’s profile of Samy Watson was useful, but made a point that Wilson completely ignored. What has happened to our democracy when, without any apparent negative judgement, Wilson can describe how an inexperienced bureaucrat, appointed by Cabinet or the PM himself, can make social and economic policy regarding agriculture, which supplies some of the food that most of us deem to be quite essential to our well-being, all by himself?
If, as Wilson writes, “Watson is seen by many to be an emissary from the government’s central control agencies”, and we have what appears to be a cipher for a Minister of Agriculture (who does he represent?), then clearly we, as citizens, need to formulate and implement an agriculture and food policy that serves our interests, not those of the Government’s corporate sponsors.
This policy should be based on “local production for local consumption”, or “feed the family and trade the leftovers.”
I know this might strike prairie farmers as an absurd idea, but what is more absurd than the present system whereby farmers produce food at a loss and make a living doing other jobs for the benefit of corporations like Monsanto, Aventis, Cargill, ADM and CN and CP?
Farmers and the citizens who depend on them for their food are not natural enemies.
People such as Samy Watson should not be permitted to continue the process of turning the growing and provisioning of food into nothing more than a function of corporate profit, even if the game is dressed up with the slogan “life sciences” or “north star initiative.”
It is criminal and immoral that we have any hungry people in Canada. Perhaps Samy Watson could apply some of his energy to actually addressing this disgrace.
– Brewster Kneen,
Sorrento, B.C.
