Farm Population Continutes To Decline: Easter Friday, February 19, 2010
HUNTER RIVER - Malpeque MP, Wayne Easter is concerned by a recent Statistics Canada report which has again identified that the farm population continues to decline. The reportindicated that the number of cattle farms in Canada has fallen to an 80 year low and that in the face of tighter border controls as well as heavy environmental and economic blows, hog farms and cattle herds have shrunk to their lowest levels in more than a decade.
“More livestock producers are abandoning their land because the Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz and the Harper Conservatives have failed to provide farmers with the necessary support to sustain their operations.” said Easter.
“The Minister” Easter continued, “seems to continuously distort the facts to divert attention away from the gravity of the crisis. He boasts that our exports for agricultural products have reached $42.8 billion but fails to acknowledge that the livestock inventory has reached its lowest level in 12 to 15 years. He also continues to claim that his government has provided support for our hog farmers when the industry claims that only 120 hog producers across the entire country have been eligible for a loan under the loan loss reserve program.
Easter believes that the government could be taking immediate steps to provide relief for farmers and to encourage the sustainability of the industry “there are several viable solutions that have been agreed upon by industry members and the opposition parties which could provide farmers with the support needed to surpass the series of blows they have been dealt with. The declining numbers of farm operations clearly show that this Minister and this government continue to fail the farm community at every turn.”
Returning
MP: Wayne Easter
Province: Prince
Edward Island
Region: Atlantic
Region
Area: 1 663
km2
Population: 33,796
(2006 census)
Major census subdivisions: Charlottetown*
and Cornwall
Other
electoral districts: Cardigan, Egmont, Hillsborough
Polling divisions: 68
Number
of electors on preliminary list: 25,234
(Elections Canada)
*Denotes that a census
subdivision occurs in more than one electoral district.
The agriculture industry is
a complex and multi-level chain comprising of suppliers,
farmers, processors, retailers and consumers in Canada
and abroad. This industry is a generator of wealth,
key to Canada's prosperity.
As Agriculture Critic, I have the opportunity to
work with industry, primary producers and Parliament
to build a stronger, more vibrant rural Canada and
strengthen our farmer's voice in Ottawa.
