Farmers Must Not Be Forgotten
By Michael Ignatieff
Rural and agricultural issues are very important to me, as they should be to all Canadians. Canada's farmers have inherited a formidable heritage. Their place in our economy – our global economy – is legendary. Canada is the breadbasket of the world, and it is our farmers who have kept us that way.
While I may be an urban member of Parliament, I come from a riding – Etobicoke-Lakeshore – that has a large number of food processing businesses, including the Campbell Soup Company, which has been producing soup there for 60 years, as well as the very busy Ontario Food Terminal, the largest wholesale fruit and produce distribution centre in Canada.
There are a huge number of urban people who are employed in these industries, and I am proud of these businesses that provide what my constituents need to make the food that ends up on Canadian and foreign tables.
Every day in my own riding, I am reminded that Canada's agricultural sector is a major source of prosperity in this country. It is with that in mind that I have spent the last few years – but particularly the last few months since becoming leader – travelling this country to meet with the farming community to hear about the challenges they face.
Farmers have told me about struggling to make ends meet, about how they contribute significantly to the environment but aren't rewarded for it. They have told me about the challenges they face with trade barriers, with young farmers leaving the land and the difficulties in maintaining their chosen marketing systems.
Make no mistake – the agricultural industry in Canada today is complex, diverse and has many barriers to overcome.
As I recently said to members of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in Ottawa, agriculture is not just any industry. There is a certain emotional attachment to it. If you grew up on a farm, you should be able to stay on the farm. Good public policy needs to understand these emotional dimensions.
Agriculture also brings about a national unity question in our country that is never really talked about. That is, the division between rural and urban Canada.
How do we as society build together, not apart? As a politician, I must ask myself: How can we make better government policy to build bridges between urban and rural Canada, instead of drive wedges between us?
As many farmers have told me, "Farmers feed cities." Urban Canadians like myself know that rural Canadians are the hardest working people in our nation. Urban Canadians are increasingly aware of the food they eat and how home-grown, Canadian foods are the highest quality in the world. A real concern of mine is how could a Liberal government build on these bridges to bring urban and rural Canada closer together?
But other key questions must also be addressed.
What are the tools that need to be put in place to enable Canada's farmers to be successful and profitable in the 21st-century economy? High input costs and building high-value markets are a few of the challenges that need to be addressed.
In the future, farming can also be the foundation of providing the renewable energy, fuels and materials needed in the 21st century. How do we seize those opportunities? And how can we reward farmers for the work they have done to make our agricultural sector more environmentally sustainable? Canadian farmers have made sacrifices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to preserve natural wildlife habitats across the country.
Finally, how do we help young farmers get back into agriculture? Generations of family farms are at risk. We must address the issue of young farmers if we wish to sustain our rural communities.
In this unprecedented economic crisis, our role as the official Opposition and my role as leader will be to make sure this Harper government makes good on its promises.
We'll make sure that the funding that's been promised makes it out the door. We will fight to make sure programs are flexible and are not "one size fits all."
We'll make sure that the deficit this government has created doesn't become an impossible burden for our children and grandchildren.
And we'll make sure that rural issues stay on the agenda.
Our party represents the values of fiscal discipline, of social responsibility. We believe in smart, compassionate government for all Canadians. We have to bring that message to every corner of rural Canada – and we will.
Michael Ignatieff is leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
|
