Financial stability for farmers, acceptance of modern farm practice key issues for NDP

Thursday, June 5, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

The need for financial stability for farmers and the public’s acceptance of modern farming practices are two major issues in the provincial election campaign, says John Vanthof, the New Democratic Party’s agriculture critic and Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP.

“I’ve farmed my whole life and I spend a lot of time at Queen’s Park just explaining to other MPPs and the people who work there how modern farming practices actually work,” says Vanthof, who sold his dairy operation in 2012 but still retains ownership of his land just north of New Liskeard and rents it out. Vanthof had been a cash crop and dairy farmer for 30 years.

“There is a resistance to some of the things that we just find commonplace and we’re going to have to make sure that people are educated about how modern farming works,” says the northern Ontario candidate.

On the need for financial stability for farmers, Vanthof says that’s where the Ontario business risk management program comes in. The New Democrats have held extensive talks with commodity groups “and we do know the cap has to be lifted.” But “we haven’t established a number. I think we’re going to have to do that with the commodity groups because the province has got some severe financial problems.”

New Democrats are also in favour of looking at caps for individual farms under the program. Vanthof says he has nothing against big farms, but really big operations have “other avenues available to protect themselves whereas the average family farm might not have the same avenues available.”

Currently, the cap is set at $100 million a year and the program is available for beef, pork, grains and oilseeds, sheep, and veal. The program for the edible horticultural industry, the self-directed risk management program, operates differently than the business risk management program but it’s funded from the same $100 million a year as the other programs.

“The cap has made the program unstable,” he says, adding “it’s kind of like you’re being underinsured.”

Another important matter for farmers is escalating hydro costs. Vanthof says the New Democrats would:

• Immediately remove the provincial portion of the HST from hydro bills.
• Merge Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, Ontario Power Authority and the IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator) into one organization, which would eliminate duplication and “a whole level of administration.”
• Have the auditor general review private power contracts and “make sure that the people of Ontario are getting a good deal.”
• Ensure Ontario gets a greater share of the money for its surplus power. The province enables surplus power to be sold through a private power broker to other jurisdictions. The power is worth about $1 billion annually and the province gets only about $300 million. “We think we can do a much better job at that.”

The New Democrats aren’t in favour of large, private power production proposals but it’s not going to tear up contracts for existing solar farms or gas power generation plants. But the party says large-scale electrical power plants should be publicly owned and financed.

Another matter New Democrats are focused on is the need to provide and maintain services in rural Ontario, such as child care spaces and schools. “You can’t really have sustainable agriculture if there are no people left in the country. If the towns don’t have schools, if there are no child care spaces in the country, my kids wouldn’t want to go back to farming,” he says.

Vanthof says they’ve proposed a program for school boards to access money to partner with community groups to keep local schools open. “Community groups could use those schools and that fund would help pay for the costs of keeping those schools open,” he notes.

Among the other items in the New Democrats agriculture election platform are:

• Amending the Green Energy Act so it does not supersede the Planning Act, which will give local municipalities a say in the location of energy projects.
• Extending the natural gas distribution network to rural Ontario but care has to be taken on how this program is implemented.
• Improving health care in rural Ontario by cutting emergency room wait times and creating 50 more family health clinics along with forgiving the student debt of doctors who practice in under-serviced areas of rural Ontario.
• Change the Planning Act so the protection of agricultural land becomes a priority.
• The New Democrats are strongly in favour of science-based decision making when it comes to matters related to the loss of pollinators and the impact of agricultural pesticides on their health.
• Implementing a tracking mechanism to ensure applications and enquiries are dealt with in a timely manner. BF