Federal disinterest

[grassfarmer]

I thought I would post some extracts from the National Farmers Union Ontario organiser Grant Robertson about a recent meeting with the Federal standing committee on Agriculture. It shows the Federal government's disinterest in challenging the status quo.

"You know you are getting pretty close to the mark when a Government MP has to hide behind rules of procedure to stop comments directed at their government after they themselves launched an untruthful and scurrilous attack upon individuals and an organization. Such was the case when NFU Manitoba Coordinator Fred Tait and I presented before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to the beef farmers of Canada, the Government members of the Committee instead chose to attack the NFU over some made up connection to the American group R-CALF. It is time for farmers to say to government, “Never mind R-CALF this is about ‘our calves’ and the fact that adjusted for inflation farmers are receiving the same sort of prices only last seen during the Great Depression.”

"......For the uninitiated in this government’s disrespect for Parliament it might come as a surprise how little attention government MPs paid to anyone’s presentation, chatting amongst themselves and generally exhibiting behaviour that would warrant being kept in for recess for an elementary student. While the Committee Chair Larry Miller showed interest in all presenters and has shown leadership on this issue, the same could not be said for many of his colleagues."

"......In a marketplace that no longer values farmers, that extracts profits from our communities for the sake of companies far removed from local concerns and views, where family farmers who question their dominance are dismissed as being ‘anti-prosperity’ or ‘communistic’; farmers fierce independence can actually work against us. Certainly the NFU, as a fiercely independent organization, understands farmer’s desire and need for independence. However, farmers need to start to realize that the marketplace is not free and unencumbered. There has been a slow process of concentration on the buyer side that now includes the retail and secondary aspects of the beef industry. This is the time for farmers to start using their collective power by working together to end captive supply. Maybe if we are lucky some of the people in government who only know how to attack, not do things, will finally pay attention and get some actual work done that would benefit farmers. It would certainly be a refreshing and needed change."

[per]

I had a long drawn out post the other day on the dream thread that got lost in cyberspace that came to that same conclusion, Gf. Add to the captive supply the fact that there are very few wholesale and large retail outfits that can possible wag the tail of the packer. All that tail wagging can be hard on the ones of us that are in the line of fire, so to speak.

[kato]

Would it be possible to get the names of those on the committee? Sounds like they need to be contacted by some producers directly. I'd love to send them each a nice email..

[vagabonddreamer]

kato...how do you manage to make what sounds like it will be a decidedly POINTED email...so friendly???

i imagine you composing the email fully respledent in your gardening hat...

what do you suppose it is about the agriculture industry that has made it the recipient of not only disinterest on a political level...but almost disdain??? is it because we are notoriously independent and as such easy to isolate and ignore?? i wonder just WHOM the government feels will produce the food to feed the people?? vs

[smcgrath76]

I think this relates to our relative disengagement from the voter.
The question is "who will grow the food?"
How many of us have any product that leaves the end of our driveways that is actually food? From the perspective of a politician it is large agricorps and supermarkets that meet the voter and produce food by trasnforming our raw product. Until producers engage and encounter consumers to determine what they want and then work to provide it I think we will continue to be disengaged from the voting majority.
In less than 2 lifetimes, primary agriculture has moved from providing food to providing raw products (I probably sounds like FS here). I largely believe a lot of this is our own fault in combination with policy that favours today's structure.

[kato]

Our problem is as old as time. Control the food, and you control society. That's the bottom line. It's the most basic power struggle there is, and over time the power has moved from producer to middleman very slowly, methodically, and surely.

The thing that makes us do this for a living is the fact that we as a group don't take orders well, and are about the most dedicated bunch of independent thinkers there are. We'd rather not depend on someone else to tell us what to do each day, and take great pride in the accomplishment of doing things for ourselves.

It's our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness. And big business has exploited this to it's benefit. The question for us is how we can use it to OUR benefit.

As for the polite email, I'm sure I can come up with something. LOL

[kato]

Bingo! Here's our guy.

http://www.randyhobackmp.ca/inthenews/2009/News%20Releases/FOR%20IMMEDIATE%20RELEASE%20-%20Hoabck%20Calls%20the%20NFU%20to%20Task%20for%20 Aligning%20itself%20with%20American%20Protectionis t%20Organization%20R-CALF%20090303.htm

NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 3, 2009

Randy Hoback, MP
Prince Albert



Hoback Calls the NFU to Task for Aligning Itself with American Protectionist Organization R-CALF

OTTAWA- Today in the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Randy Hoback, Member of Parliament for Prince Albert publicly called representatives of the National Farmers Union to task for aligning themselves with American protectionist organization R-CALF. The text of Mr. Hoback’s comments is as follows:

What has been recorded and what has been quoted by R-CALF is not anything on captive supply. It’s very blunt. That you’re looking like you’re aligning with R-CALF; and by doing that you’re giving an organization that we say has no credibility…you’ve given them credibility. And you’ve actually undermined our position with COOL in the U.S. You did it at such a time when things are sensitive.

The damage you’ve done to the Western Canadian industry is huge. The damage you’ve done to the Canadian industry is huge.

In a recent R-CALF press release, the NFU was quoted as saying that both it and R-CALF shared common interests against packer concentration and the negative effects of trade deals such as NAFTA.

The Opposition’s overt favouritism toward the NFU was exemplified by the Official Opposition’s Critic for Agriculture, who showed amazing arrogance by publicly boasting about his former presidency of the NFU in his support for granting the NFU three times the usual presentation time. It should also be noted that the NDP also continues to refer to the NFU as its political arm in agriculture.

-30-

For further information, please contact Richard Fromm at (613) 291-7076

(right-click here to download an MP3 copy of Mr. Hoback’s comments)

With friends like this, who needs enemies????? Somebody's getting an email............

[kato]

Sorry that made the page go wide.

Prince Albert Office
137 15th St. E.
Prince Albert, SK
S6V 1G1
(Tel) 306.953.8622
(Fax) 306.953.8625
(TF) 1.800.939.0940
hobacr1@parl.gc.ca

Ottawa Office
Room 910
Justice Building
House of Commons
K1A 0A6
(Tel) 613.995.3295
(Fax) 613.995.6819
hobacr@parl.gc.ca

website randyhobackmp.ca

FYI ;-)

[kato]

And this is what he got. See? I was polite at the end. ;-)

Dear Mr Hoback,

I have been reading news stories about a recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Agriculture during which you made accusations regarding the integrity of the NFU. As a Canadian cattle producer, this concerns me greatly.

I will preface my comments by telling you that I am not now, or ever have been a member of the NFU. I am just an ordinary cattle producer trying to make a living in extraordinary times. I can also tell you that even though you may be philosophically opposed to the NFU, you may be surprised to learn that there are very few people out here in the real world, trying survive in the cattle business, who do not agree with their report on the crisis we are now dealing with. We give them credit where credit is due. They've done their homework, and presented the facts as facts, not as assumptions.

My husband and I have been raising cattle since well before the advent of NAFTA, and have lived through personally all the things that happened since then. They are correct.

My concern goes above and beyond one MP who jumps to conclusions by believing press releases from protectionist activists in the U.S. Those of us who have dealt with the endless chain of out of context messages and propaganda put out by R-Calf have learned to sift through them all and see them for what they really are. I would have thought a member of our own government would have been able to sort out fact from fiction rather than jump to such a false assumption.

The concern I have most is the current atmosphere of general disregard for those of us in the livestock business. We are struggling like we have never struggled before just to survive. Is it too much to ask that our own government at least treat us with some respect? Is it too much to ask that before a representative of family farmers, who has gone to a lot of work and effort to help put forward some ideas that may help address our troubles to be able to go before a committee of our own elected government and state the case without having to spend time defending himself from what is basically tabloid journalism?

In the future, I would hope that when citizens of this country take it upon themselves to testify before a parliamentary committee that they will be allowed to state their cases without being attacked and having their loyalty to their country questioned.

Thank you for listening to my concerns.

[kato]

Oh ya, and I sent c.c.'s to S.Harper, G Ritz, M Ignatief and James Bezan.

That's enough stirring the pot for today. Time to make supper.