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Agriculture minister promotes Ontario- grown campaign
G REGG C HAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have now on farm- ing practices and their potential impact on the market for farm produce, especially meat, milk, and cheese. “There are some folks out there who have con- cerns about a number of different issues,” Mc- Meekin said. “Often they don’t have a clue about what’s going on on the farm or the importance of what farming is all about, but we need to take whatever concerns they do have seriously, and find ways to work with everybody to move our industry forward. That’s why my ministry is work- ing with a couple other ministries, and with the stakeholders, together to rationalize the pro- cesses around animal and animal health. That’s important. I should say, off the top, that nobody appreciates or understands and values animal health more than the farmers who earn their living from the animals. We should take our cue from the 99.9 per cent of farmers who treat their animals with respect and love, and recognize that they are the key component to making their livelihood.” As Ontario’s new agriculture minister, Mc- Meekin described himself as an :”old school” type of manager. “I believe in management by walking around, which is why, since being appointed as minister I’ve been to 163 events in the last five months, talking directly to people on the ground,”he said. He noted that it is not just a job for the provin- cial government or the federal government but for everyone. “Aristotle once said, ‘If you want to know if the shoe fits, you have to ask the person that wears it, not the person that made it.’ I have 57,112 ‘pro- fessors’ called farmers all across Ontario who are prepared to give this good minister a lecture on any one of a number of topics at the drop of a hat. So I’m trying to take advantage of that, to learn as much as I can, because if you have good information, guess what? You tend to make good decisions. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, guess what? You tend to make bad deci- sions. So I’m out there, engaged every single day, sometimes three or four sessions a day, talking to stakeholders, listening to them and working collaboratively to grow together what I believe is the best industry in the world. By the way, the number one economic driver in all Ontario is ag- riculture and food processing. “None of us is as strong as all of us,” he said. “That’s what partnerships are all about.” He expressed optimism for the future of farm- ing in Ontario, but warned that it will require constant work and vigilance. “It’s an ongoing process. We have some chal- lenges. Some of those challenges will relate, potentially, to the global competition. We’re in a global economy. There are some concerns that are expressed from time to time about potential trade regulations existing and those of poten- tial. We’re working very very closely with Minis- ter Ritz in the federal government to ensure that the supply-management side of agriculture is kept strong, and that those areas of agriculture that aren’t currently supply-managed are given whatever advantages we can to make sure our farm families do well.”
SPÉCIALDU PRINTEMPS! “They said that Ontario produce is the most nutritious, the best-tasting, and the safest in the world,” he said. “Ninety-two per cent of Ontario says that. That is the biggest advantage we have when we look at exporting.” McMeekin agreed with suggestions from the farming community that more work is needed to educate the general public, both in Ontario B o urg et | I f T ed McM eeki n h a d hi s wa y the w o r d s “Gr o wn i n On t ar io ” w o u ld be o n bill - bo ar d s i n e v e r y f arm i ng c o mmun ity i n the pr o v i nc e an d i n a t le as t o n e par t of e v e r y gr o - c e r y s to r e. H el p i ng look a fte r the i n te r e s t s of the pr o v i nc e ’s f arm i ng s e c to r as the agr i cu l - t ur e m i n i s te r s t ar t s w ith pr o m oti ng w h a t f arm- e rs, ranc he rs, an d othe rs pr od uc e i n thei r fi eld s an d b arns . McMeekin spent Thursday in Prescott-Russell meeting with local farmers and representatives of regional agriculture groups in Bourget in the morning and then visiting the St-Albert Cheese Factory in the afternoon. During his talks he mentioned a recent survey of householders in Ontario stated that 92 per cent preferred to buy meat, fruit and vegetables that come from On- tario farms over imported produce and meats at their local stores.
and outside of the province, on the importance of agriculture. “The farmers have been saying to me and my staff team here that we need to continue to tell our story,” he said during a Vision interview, “be- cause it’s a good story, that the Ontario Foodland brand is a good brand, that it’s a strong spring- board for us to do more on the education front, and to have more people understand that we produce the best-tasting, most nutritious, safest food in the world.” He described the proposed Ontario Food Act as a key factor in that effort, and is one of the main discussion items on his tour agenda throughout the province and also with federal government officials. The legislation is a joint ef- fort by McMeekin’s ministry and also the health ministry. “The Ontario Food Act is something that we’ve been talking about for a while,” he said. “It’s our hope that we can articulate a vision for agriculture and the importance of food to those we represent in Ontario. It would have a lot to do with nutrition, health, economic viability, how we work together to grow the sector, and how, essentially we get more Ontario produce on Ontario tables, and continue to spread our brand around the world. So it has an economic development component, it has an education component, it has a support component. We ba- sically want to get more people eating Ontario produce.” During his Bourget stop, McMeekin heard comments from several farmers expressing concerns about the impact that animal rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Society for the Prevent
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Argument almost becomes knife fight and ends in weapons charge vision@eap.on.ca
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A lf r ed - Pl an t ag e n et | A man f r o m A lf r ed - Pl an- t ag e n et T o wns hi p f ac e s a w e ap o n assau lt c h arg e. An OPP officer answered a call May 26 at a house on Concession 3 about an argument that soon became a fight and threatened to turn le- thal. Two men were fighting hand-to-hand when
one of them pulled out a knife and threatened the other man, who then called police. A 34-year-old Alfred-Plantagenet man now faces a charge Under the Criminal Code of as- sault with a weapon. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to appear in provincial court in L’Orignal June 20 to answer to the charge.
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