#1Apr 24th, 2006
Yesterday, a spokesman for farmers who blockaded fuel distribution terminals through the day and overnight, said "we'll be here until we leave for 24 Sussex in time to get Prime Minister Stephen Harper out of bed nice and early because he has a lot of work to do."
Dwight Foster, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his North Gower farm, said the 100 or so tractors and other farm vehicles would move on to Wellington Street later in the morning.
Bulk delivery trucks were allowed to enter the depots -- Shell Canada on Hunt Club, Esso and Petro-Canada on Merivale Road -- as they arrived empty, but loaded trucks were held up for an hour before being allowed to leave for their deliveries.
Letting the vehicles enter without delay was a safety measure, Mr. Foster said.
Mr. Foster said about 100 tractors and other farm vehicles as well as about 200 men, women and children were involved in the action. Some vehicles were from Quebec as farmers there showed solidarity with their Ontario compatriots.
He said that while some wheat has been planted in the area "a lot of corn seed was sent back last week.
He ridiculed a ruling by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal last week that corn imported from the United States is not a threat to the Canadian corn industry.
Last December, a countervailing tariff was levied against U.S. imports after the federal government estimated subsidies to U.S. farmers were about $75 a ton.
He described the loss of the countervailing tariff as an "about face by the government."
"It's pretty discouraging," he said.
"The U.S. spends $50 to $60 billion U.S. annually on agriculture subsidies," he said, "and 90 per cent of that goes to the grain and oil seeds sector."
This allows American farmers to export product at prices that are below the cost of production and constitute an unfair advantage over Canadian producers.
He said the government's offer of $500 million a year for five years offered to farmers amounts to "a little Band-Aid on an amputation."
What is needed in terms of support to keep farms viable is $6 billion a year in a multiyear program that would level the playing field for Canadian producers competing with U.S. farmers.
If produce prices were to rise, all the $6 billion would not have to be disbursed, he said, but it forms a necessary safety net.
The government tells farmers it can't compete with the U.S. Treasury, Mr. Foster said, but farmers "need a clear indication if the government wants us to go on working our land."
He said the planting window for this year will close soon and unless farmers get the support needed to make some profit from operations.
"We need an announcement now," he said.
The farmers are asking the government to support a risk management and production insurance program proposed by farmers, with immediate bridge financing to keep farmers in production.
They also ask that farm marketing systems such as supply management receive ongoing government support.
Such actions, they say, will resolve the income crisis faced by Canadian farmers who have been subsidizing farm prices that are below cost.
The current situation, they say, threatens the continuation of the Canadian food supply.
There also continue to be problems in the red meat and horticulture areas, they said.
"I know farmers who can't get fertilizer," Mr. Foster said. "I know others who are six months behind in mortgage payments. Some farmers are having their loans called in by the banks.
"When a farmer loses his land, he also loses his home," he pointed out.
He said Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl "doesn't know anything about agriculture, although that's not to say anything against the man himself."
Jean-Marie Menard, who led a group of several tractors to the Citizen offices, said the farmers have asked for meetings with the minister and the prime minister to clarify their position.
Despite letters to all MPs, seeking their help in arranging such a meeting, it has not happened.
John Peck, a spokesman for Shell, said the farmers had not had a great effect on operations at the Hunt Club depot, which distributes gasoline, home heating oil, diesel and aviation fuel.
"We haven't had any trucks show up for deliveries today," he said in a telephone call from Toronto.
"People might have picked up their supplies early because there was certainly a lot of advance warning that this was going to happen," Mr. Peck said.
Representatives of Esso and Petro-Canada did not return phone calls.
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