We are a rural family living the dream — or we were until April 11, when we had the rug pulled out from under us.
We are one of the families affected by the federal government’s cuts to the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration.
Not only did the federal government and its agencies not give prior warning, but it has now left us in limbo. We have received no official date of termination, only a vague reference to this year or next year.
However, considering the well laid out plan thus far, it could be next month.
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Was the PFRA eliminated because it is a cost-recovery agency that runs a profit (or close to it), or was it wiped out based on the government ideal that to progress it cannot run businesses? Progress or not, it sure feels like purgatory to us.
My husband is a pasture manager in the PFRA system. His job is that of a professional cowboy; the only difference is the paperwork.
As a young man, he wanted to live the dream of riding horses and working cattle. He obtained a position in the PFRA system and worked as a seasonal rider for many years, striving to prove himself.
He worked hard to move up the ranks, finally obtaining success and becoming a manager.
Four years ago, when my husband finally received the promotion to pasture manager in an area in Manitoba unfamiliar to us, we moved lock, stock and barrel to our new home. The kids were enrolled in a new school and I had to find a new job.
We all live at his job 365 days a year, and inquiries come 24-7. This is more than a full-time job; this is a way of life. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t phone or stop by asking about programs, rates, pasture availability or 100 other questions. If my husband isn’t in the yard when one of these questions is asked, the kids or I act as secretary and forward the question. We all played a part in the success of his job.
There are 87 pastures in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with 26 of them in Manitoba. Each of them has a manager, with a few exceptions.
Part of being a pasture manager is that you have to live on site, where you rent your home. Managers and riders have to provide their own horses and tack. In essence, each is a farmer, but without the personal farm or livestock because owning more than 12 head of cattle is considered a conflict of interest. Most employees are nearing retirement, but those of us who were planning to spend another 20 to 30 years working are left with no job and no home.
The managers’ and riders’ equity was in their animals and equipment, but now these will flood the market as they go up for sale. They will also have to find homes and ask banks for mortgages while admitting they have been laid off.
As for jobs, you don’t see many ads in any paper looking for hard-working, honest country boys. Retraining is their only option.
You may think that’s a fact of life, but what if the politicians were told tomorrow, “move out of your house and get a job farming?” Would they handle the situation with grace and poise? I think not. They would be kicking and screaming to keep their jobs.
We are neither kicking nor screaming but would have appreciated fair treatment, advance notice and fair compensation for all we sacrificed.
