Ontario Hansard - 26-April2006

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): Today I'm rising once again to bring to the attention of the McGuinty government the crisis facing our agriculture community.

The agriculture community has organized campaigns and protests across Ontario to raise awareness of the crisis in the agriculture industry. One of their organizers is Joe Hickson. Joe grows grain and oilseeds near Lindsay and has been a great advocate and organizer for the farming community. They've led campaigns to raise public awareness of their needs and to put pressure on both the provincial and federal governments to act immediately to save the future of farming. I want to thank Joe for all his hard work.

Immediate help is needed for this essential industry. Without it, our future is uncertain. Our government needs to increase its financial investment in all of agriculture and invest in Ontario's 60,000 farm families. The high quality of food that Ontario farmers provide is a basic necessity for life and more than worth our investment.

The Farmers Feed Cities group is a reminder that agriculture and the rural economy are important to all Ontario. Currently, the sector receives only 0.7% of the entire provincial budget. They're asking for 1.4% of the provincial budget. So it was extremely devastating when the Liberal government cut $244 million from the agriculture budget.

Ontario farmers continue to be outraged that they are not just getting less, they're getting nothing, at a time when farmers are deciding whether they can afford to plant their crop for another year. Farmers of all sorts are paying the price for this government's misguided policies. The sad truth is that under Dalton McGuinty, Ontario farmers and rural communities are falling behind.