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Yorkton-Melville
Campaign Office
Location: Yorkton's Parkland Mall, across from Food Court
Email: yorktonmelvillecpc@sasktel.net
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Yorkton,
Sask.
Phone: 306-786-2114
Fax: 306-786-2116 |
NEWS
RELEASE
| December
21, 2005 |
For Immediate Release |
CONSERVATIVE
PARTY REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO AGRICULTURE
YORKTON
– Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative Party candidate for
Yorkton-Melville, was pleased by Wednesday’s agriculture policy
announcement by Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper. Harper unveiled
plans for Canada’s agriculture industry including an investment
of an additional $500 million for farm support programs, grain marketing
choices and the replacement of CAIS with separate farm income stabilization
and disaster relief programs.
“This policy announcement gives Canadian farmers
some assistance just to keep going,” said Breitkreuz. “We
recognize the importance and the economic impact the agriculture industry
has on the health and wealth of our nation. The family farm has long
been a backbone of our country. For generations, our farmers have
fed Canadians and become a breadbasket to the world. But farmers need
our support.”
Farm incomes are down. The Liberals have admitted
the value of grain and oilseed production is down approximately $2
billion this year compared with the average over the past 10 years.
Our beef and cattle producers have also struggled – suffering
under a two-year American ban on live Canadian cattle that cost Canadian
producers more than $7 billion. During the fight to re-open the border,
the Liberals sat on the sidelines, voting against a motion to send
an all-party delegation to Washington in 2003, and leaving it to the
Conservative Party to defend the political and legal interests of
Canadian producers in 2005.
“We are and always have been committed to agriculture
producers,” said Breitkreuz. “From my tours of the riding,
I have seen the challenges and devastation our farmers face. Repeatedly
Conservative MPs have tried to make the Liberals understand the battles
our farmers fight every year, but they don’t get it. Canadian
producers deserve better.”
A Conservative Government will:
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Replace CAIS with separate farm income stabilization and disaster
relief programs. The new income stabilization program will be
a simpler, more responsive program that properly addresses the
cost of production, market revenue, and inventory evaluation.
The federal government should be ready to pitch in when disaster
strikes, funding disaster relief separately, above and beyond
its income stabilization program;
• Commit an additional $500 million annually to farm support
programs;
• Continue with the $755 million in emergency assistance
to grain and oilseed producers announced on November 23, 2005,
and ensure that this money reaches farmers as quickly as possible;
• Ensure that agricultural industries that choose to operate
under domestic supply management remain viable. Canada needs efficient
production planning, market-based returns to producers, and predictable
imports to operate domestic supply management systems;
• Give western grain farmers the freedom to make their own
marketing and transportation decisions. Western grain farmers
should be able to participate voluntarily in the Canadian Wheat
Board;
• Defend Canada’s agricultural sectors when negotiating
international trade agreements. A Conservative government will
seek better market access for Canadian agricultural and agri-food
products in foreign markets. We will support the phased reduction
of all trade-distorting barriers and the rapid elimination of
all agriculture export subsidies. We will pursue strong, rules-based
trade liberalization in conjunction with all other countries that
are members of the World Trade Organization;
• Implement a Green Cover Crop Program to protect prairie
farmers. Severe flooding in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba has
adversely affected the opportunity for farmers to harvest their
normal crop. A Green Crop Cover Program will create a compensation
fund for farmers facing crop damage caused by severe flooding;
and
• Require 5 per cent average renewable content in Canadian
gasoline and diesel fuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel, by 2010.
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“This will not solve all the problems farmers are experiencing,
but for 12 years, Canadian farm families have put up with Liberal
indifference,” said Breitkreuz. “In this election, Canadians
can choose a Conservative government that stands up for agriculture,
rural Canada, and a safe food supply for all Canadians.”
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