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Farmers Continue to Seek Aid Issues Facing the Peace Region Hansard Debates -- ESTIMATES: MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Premier's Summit Report October 30, 1997
The Premier's Summit on Northern Jobs and Development was held in Prince George this week. Almost 200 people participated in the three day workshop the majority of which were northerners along with executives of major BC public and private corporations, MLAs, Cabinet Ministers and senior civil servants. The enthusiasm, energy and optimism of these very capable people were impressive.
Opportunities for growth were brainstormed by groups of 15 to 20 people in the areas of forestry, mining, oil and gas, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, small business services, advanced education and skills training, technology, and transportation. These forums resulted in a wide range of ideas that were then prioritized by the participants.
The focus was on private sector investment and job creation. Premier Clark and his ministers made it clear that while they would consider requests for government spending, they did not see that as the purpose of the Summit. As a result, a lot of discussion took place around ways government could simplify regulations, cut red tape, and build investor confidence. Time will tell how government chooses to implement the successful that were brought to their attention.
Unfortunately the Summit provided only a limited opportunity to raise two very critical Peace Region concerns, namely the agriculture crisis and the deplorable condition of our rural road system.
A bus load of Peace Region farmers traveled to Prince George to meet the Minister of Agriculture and to raise awareness of the farm crisis with the Provincial media and other Summit attendees. Radio and newspaper reports indicate that at least the latter objective was successful. I was pleased with the media interest and the coverage that was generated. Hopefully their efforts will in-turn increase understanding of the issue within government.
Regrettably, Richard Neufeld (Peace River North MLA) and I, along with the media, were asked by government officials to leave the meeting room prior to the Ministers' discussion with the farmers. My understanding is that the meeting lasted for about an hour and a half during which the group brought the government up to date with current information. But, while they received a sympathetic ear, no concrete commitments were made. Obviously a lot more pressure will be required before the government agrees to support agriculture in the same way they have assisted the forest industry in Golden and Prince Rupert.
During the Summit I sat on the transportation sub-committee. In this context I repeatedly raised the fact that the current conditions of rural roads are an impediment to the agriculture, forestry, and the petroleum industries. Transportation and Highways Minster Lois Boone, Deputy Minister Blair Redlin and Assistant Deputy Minister Dan Doyle also participated on the committee and I am satisfied that they now have a much better understanding of the road conditions and their impact on individuals and the local economy.
The road and agriculture problems will continue to be at the top of my agenda until satisfactory resolutions are found. I would appreciate letters of support on either of these important issues. Please send letters to #103, 10312-12th Street Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4S9 or fax them to 250-784-2458.
Farm Disaster Continues to Plague the Peace October 16, 1997
The farm disaster continues to top the news in the Peace Region, but the question remains -- is the Premier aware of the impact this crisis is causing in Northern BC? When the Premier visited Dawson Creek he stated, "It's absolutely true, Victoria doesn't pay enough attention to the North." Well, tell us something we don't know. Time and time again I have discussed the local farm crisis with the government in Victoria. During the last legislative session the Minister of Agriculture, Corky Evans, made the commitment that he would work with me to come up with a solution. Since that time continued wet weather has made harvest prospects look bleak and, I think we all agree, the situation is desperate for many farmers. And this should come as no surprise to the Government!
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting held at Farmington Hall on Tuesday October 14th; however, my Constituency Assistant took lots of notes and was able to report back to me the folk's comments and growing concerns.
An issue that our Member of Parliament Jay Hill touched on was the fact that the Federal government can't do anything in regards to assistance until the Provincial Government bites the bullet and declares the Peace Region an agricultural disaster area. This is a major concern. Our first priority should be to make sure our government understands the extent of the damages caused by the weather trends over the previous years that have lead up to this crisis.
The Peace River Regional District should be commended for their efforts in hiring a consultant to research and report the trends -- now we need to take the hard facts to the government and lobby for their support. Everyone must take part in this effort because we are all going to be affected. This includes local businesses, concerned citizens, farm families, and the industries that share the transportation corridors with farmers.
It was my understanding that when the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Katherine Reid, ventured North and met with the Peace River Regional District, that the next step was to consult farmers to develop options for the government to look at. It is frustrating that the Ministry keeps going back to that issue. Over the past 12 months the Minister, Corky Evans, visited the area twice and options were discussed at that time. Early this spring I met with Mr. Evans, the Deputy Minister and a number of senior officials to discuss the possibility of a second crop failure and various options for government assistance. I followed up this discussion in a debate with the Minister in the Legislature during consideration of the Ministry budget. Again, possible options were raised by me and discussed with Minister Evans.
It is time for the government to clearly identify those options that it is prepared to fund! We have seen the government commit more than $20 million to bail out Evans Forest Products in Golden and nearly $200 million for Skeena Cellulose in Prince Rupert. What is the government prepared to do to assist the agriculture industry here in the Peace?
Perhaps with the government's recent focus on employment, we should start to identify a number of jobs in the Peace Region that will be lost as local spending by cash strapped farmers continues to decline. Indeed, this impact goes far beyond the farmers. We need to look seriously at the negative affect this will have on our economy as a whole.
The Premier will be holding a Northern Jobs Summit on October 27th, 28th, and 29th in Prince George which I will be attending. My priorities are agriculture and transportation in the North. This is a great opportunity to focus provincial attention on the plight of Peace River farmers.
Media attention is an important factor in government decision-making. There has been excellent local media coverage. However, publicity loses momentum on a Provincial scale. One way to deal with this ongoing lack of province-wide attention is to write letters and make your voice heard -- it is time to let the provincial media know we are here, and we are confronting an extremely serious problem.
My Constituency Assistant is developing a farm disaster web site on the Internet that will include most of the articles from the Peace River Block News from the past two years with regards to the farmers. A link to this site will then be emailed directly to media and government officials throughout the province so they can see for themselves how this crisis has been unfolding. We would be more than happy to post any personal stories, pictures and letters that folks feel comfortable sharing. Let's use the technology available to the best of our abilities and get our message across the province instantly -- with no cost to individuals in our community! If you have anything to contribute to this ongoing battle, please don't hesitate to call or drop by the office. Toll free 1-800-665-5118, or (250) 782-5350. You can fax your letters to (250) 784-2458, or drop an e-mail to weisgrbr@pris.bc.ca. The Internet Farm Disaster Web site is located at:
www.pris.bc.ca/mla-prs/crisis.htm.
The Next Steps October 16, 1997 The farm disaster continues to top the news in the Peace Region, but the question remains -- is the Premier aware of the impact this crisis is causing in Northern BC? When the Premier visited Dawson Creek he stated, "It's absolutely true, Victoria doesn't pay enough attention to the North." Well, tell us something we don't know. Time and time again I have discussed the local farm crisis with the government in Victoria. During the last legislative session the Minister of Agriculture, Corky Evans, made the commitment that he would work with me to come up with a solution. Since that time continued wet weather has made harvest prospects look bleak and, I think we all agree, the situation is desperate for many farmers. And this should come as no surprise to the Government!
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting held at Farmington Hall on Tuesday October 14th; however, my Constituency Assistant took lots of notes and was able to report back to me the folk's comments and growing concerns.
An issue that our Member of Parliament Jay Hill touched on was the fact that the Federal government can't do anything in regards to assistance until the Provincial Government bites the bullet and declares the Peace Region an agricultural disaster area. This is a major concern. Our first priority should be to make sure our government understands the extent of the damages caused by the weather trends over the previous years that have lead up to this crisis.
The Peace River Regional District should be commended for their efforts in hiring a consultant to research and report the trends -- now we need to take the hard facts to the government and lobby for their support. Everyone must take part in this effort because we are all going to be affected. This includes local businesses, concerned citizens, farm families, and the industries that share the transportation corridors with farmers.
It was my understanding that when the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Katherine Reid, ventured North and met with the Peace River Regional District, that the next step was to consult farmers to develop options for the government to look at. It is frustrating that the Ministry keeps going back to that issue. Over the past 12 months the Minister, Corky Evans, visited the area twice and options were discussed at that time. Early this spring I met with Mr. Evans, the Deputy Minister and a number of senior officials to discuss the possibility of a second crop failure and various options for government assistance. I followed up this discussion in a debate with the Minister in the Legislature during consideration of the Ministry budget. Again, possible options were raised by me and discussed with Minister Evans.
It is time for the government to clearly identify those options that it is prepared to fund! We have seen the government commit more than $20 million to bail out Evans Forest Products in Golden and nearly $200 million for Skeena Cellulose in Prince Rupert. What is the government prepared to do to assist the agriculture industry here in the Peace?
Perhaps with the government's recent focus on employment, we should start to identify a number of jobs in the Peace Region that will be lost as local spending by cash strapped farmers continues to decline. Indeed, this impact goes far beyond the farmers. We need to look seriously at the negative affect this will have on our economy as a whole.
The Premier will be holding a Northern Jobs Summit on October 27th, 28th, and 29th in Prince George which I will be attending. My priorities are agriculture and transportation in the North. This is a great opportunity to focus provincial attention on the plight of Peace River farmers.
Media attention is an important factor in government decision-making. There has been excellent local media coverage. However, publicity loses momentum on a Provincial scale. One way to deal with this ongoing lack of province-wide attention is to write letters and make your voice heard -- it is time to let the provincial media know we are here, and we are confronting an extremely serious problem.
My Constituency Assistant is developing a farm disaster web site on the Internet that will include most of the articles from the Peace River Block News from the past two years with regards to the farmers. A link to this site will then be emailed directly to media and government officials throughout the province so they can see for themselves how this crisis has been unfolding. We would be more than happy to post any personal stories, pictures and letters that folks feel comfortable sharing. Let's use the technology available to the best of our abilities and get our message across the province instantly -- with no cost to individuals in our community! If you have anything to contribute to this ongoing battle, please don't hesitate to call or drop by the office. Toll free 1-800-665-5118, or (250) 782-5350. You can fax your letters to (250) 784-2458, or drop an e-mail to weisgrbr@pris.bc.ca. The Internet Farm Disaster Web site is located at: www.pris.bc.ca/mla-prs/crisis.htm.
Weisgerber Gets Agriculture Minister to Take a Second Look June 12, 1997 Huge financial losses are weighing heavily on the minds of Peace region farmers and indeed the entire community. Armed with numerous questions and proposed solutions, I questioned Agriculture Minister Corky Evans at length during his ministry’s expenditure estimates process.
Prior to discussing the situation with the Minister, however, I laid out the situation. The wettest fall in history hit the Peace last year followed by an incredibly wet, late, cold spring. Sadly about 65 percent of the crops remained in the fields over the winter. The grain that was harvested, was harvested too late in the season to give farmers enough time to replant their crops. To make matters even worse, many of the fields harvested last year have ruts in them and are too wet to allow for any cultivation, let alone planting of spring crops. This means that thousands of acres will remain fallow this year.
Consequently, the $45 million loss last year will be further compounded by lower revenues this fall as a result of the smaller acreage planted. Yet the government’s only response to the devastating situation last year was a $1.2 million ten-year fund earmarked for agricultural diversification. Although I’m not critical of funding coming to our region, this offer was an inappropriate and inadequate response to a desperate situation, and it continues to be. It certainly won’t help the farmers who will be facing cash flow problems next year which will in turn affect their ability to plant crops in 1998.
I reinforced the importance of responding more appropriately to this foreseeable financial crisis next spring so that our region doesn’t get shut out like we did last year when we were told that "there’s nothing in the budget for it." When the Minister attempted to quash my concerns by suggesting that government responded to our crisis in the same way they had done in other situations around the province, I refuted each one by showing how dissimilar it was to our situation in the Peace. A case in point is Evans Forest Products where the government’s dollar commitment far exceeded anything offered Peace region farmers. This is despite the fact that the estimated losses in the Peace will be far in excess of what the financial losses would have been in Golden had Evans closed its doors.
The reality is that government uses a double standard to determine how much assistance they give. Perhaps it’s because our Peace region farmers are extremely resilient or maybe because the people in Victoria really don’t understand the impact that a cold, wet fall followed by a very late wet spring have had on our farmer community. Nevertheless, those same folks who fought back with all their might last year to get through the fall of ’96 crisis are going to find it much, much more difficult to sustain their livelihoods through two tough years in a row.
In response to my continued appeals, I’m pleased to report that the Minister sought my advice as to how the government should deal with the crisis. I emphasized that the best long-term approach would not be a bunch of grants or handouts, but rather solutions designed to soften the looming credit crisis. For example, money could be made available on either a prime or a no-interest basis for planting the 1998 crop. The bottom line is that money must be available to farmers so that they will have the money necessary to plant crops, which means buying inputs, such as fertilizer and seed.
The severity of this financial crisis cannot be underestimated. The loss of last year’s crops and the fact that many crops have not been planted has indeed brought on a looming financial crisis. The Minister publicly committed to working with me to come up with a solution. Although it’s the Minister’s responsibility to implement any one of the suggestions I proposed, I assure you that I’ll keep hammering away so that our Peace region farmers get the assistance they require and deserve.
If you would like to read a copy of the Legislative debate during which I questioned the Agriculture Minister at length, I encourage you to call the constituency office at 782-5350 or toll-free 1-800-665-5118 to request a copy or see my web site at www.pris.bc.ca/mla-prs/.
Please note: If you would like to read the Hansard debates on this issue simply click on Legislative debates (above)... you will then have to scroll down the page to a section starting with a title :
Proceedings in the Douglas Fir Room. (Nearly the end of the document)
Farmers Continue to Seek Aid
January 30th, 1997
To date the province has failed to respond in any meaningful way to the current disaster in our agriculture industry. An incredibly wet fall and early snow has left 60 - 70% of crops in the fields. And in some areas almost 100% of crops remain unharvested. Grain farmers are not the only ones affected. As ranchers struggle with low quality forage crops and a lack of straw for bedding, which is particularly critical at calving time. The direct revenue loss to farmers is estimated to be a staggering $40 million in the Peace region. The loss of this disposable income will in turn hurt local businesses in the retail and farm supply sectors as farmers’ incomes plummet.
Worried farmers met again on Monday at the George Dawson Inn to consider the totally inadequate and unacceptable response from Victoria and to examine ways of making the provincial government aware of the crisis facing area farmers. The enormous loss of revenue is unfortunately only part of the picture. Next spring, new challenges will confront farmers because of problems such as extremely wet fields, harvesting swathed or flattened crops and, for those who were able to combine, deeply rutted fields. Farmers will also be looking for extended lines of credit to finance fuel, fertilizer and seed for next year’s crop.
To top things off, wildlife, especially dear and elk, are further damaging those crops left in the field. It is worth noting that Alberta just announced a $4.1 million fund for wildlife damage to crops. On Tuesday, BC Environment Minister Cathy McGregor announced that the government would spend $435,000 on a feeding project for deer and elk in the Kootenays. McGregor said, "30 unemployed Kootenay forest workers will cut vegetation on Crown land, providing natural food for the animals." This is outrageous, considering there doesn’t seem to be a dime available for farmers who watch herds of deer harvest what’s left of their crops.
Various commodity groups, including grain producers and cattleman, are getting together to approach Victoria for meaningful assistance to deal with the immediate needs of area farmers. Most favor some form of government guarantee for low interest loans to cover outstanding bills and help finance next year’s crop. Government should also agree to defer crop insurance premiums until next fall to allow farmers to take advantage of the new crop insurance plan recently announced by the Minister of Agriculture.
Requests for low interest loans or loan guarantees and deferment of crop insurance premiums seem very modest and reasonable given the serious nature of this crisis. The community of Golden faced an issue of similar magnitude with the closure of the local sawmill. And we saw our government provide loan guarantees of between 20 and 40 million dollars. Canadian Airlines received $5 million in loan guarantees to keep a western-based airline in the air and protect jobs located primarily in the lower mainland. Yet, all we have received here to date is an offer of $1.2 million that must be used to fund a long term agriculture development strategy. Nice--but it totally fails to address the crisis facing our area farmers.
It is time for the entire community to rally behind our agriculture industry. Local governments, the Regional District, the Chambers of Commerce and various groups and individuals can join North Peace MLA Richard Neufeld and myself in putting some real pressure on Victoria. Write, phone or fax:
Premier Glen Clark & Honourable Corky Evans, Minister of Agriculture
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC
V8V 1X4
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Issues Facing the Peace Region
November 21st, 1996
The current crisis facing Peace region farmers is a serious situation that requires the attention of both the federal and provincial governments. The Peace River Regional District has declared an Agriculture Disaster. Provincial Agriculture Minister, Corky Evans visited the Peace last week to view the situation first hand and meet with groups and individuals that are directly affected. Mr. Evans acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and was sympathetic with the hardships the farmers and others are facing. He was careful to avoid making any commitments but did promise to report to Cabinet next week and to try to find some way of providing assistance. I will continue working with farm organizations and local government to keep the pressure on in Victoria. This would be a great opportunity for the government in Victoria to show the people of the Peace Region that they haven’t forgotten about us entirely. Lets keep our fingers crossed!
Our region sends a huge amount of money to Victoria and gets very little in return. Looking back over the last couple of years, our requests have been modest but positive responses from the government have still been few and far between. Here are a few of the things I have been pushing for:
Roads and Highways: Our rural roads are desperately in need of a major graveling program (a responsibility of the Ministry of Highways, not the maintenance contractors) to bring roads up to an acceptable standard. Farmers are outraged at plans to cut back our roads that don’t service residences but are necessary to access fields.
16’ Wide Manufactured Homes: After a very successful pilot project we are still waiting for a decision from Victoria that would enable people in the Peace to take advantage of this affordable housing option that can be safely moved in our area. Perhaps this time common sense will prevail over political expediency.
Rocky Mountain Doubles: Slightly longer transport trailers would allow us to move goods into the area more cheaply. Local merchants compete with stores in Alberta that don’t charge Sales Tax and enjoy lower freight rates. Government recognition of our unique situation could help ease the latter.
CT Scan: The residents of the Peace have donated nearly enough money to purchase the equipment needed for a CT Scan machine. We are now in the process of lobbying the government for operational funding for this equipment. Having a CT Scan machine in our region would be a step in cutting down travel costs and providing first-rate care close to home.
Health Care Travel: I support Richard Neufeld’s proposal of using all travel miles earned on tickets purchased with government money to go toward health care travel for rural residents of British Columbia. This plan could provide huge cost savings for the rural residents of British Columbia as well as providing more equal access to health care throughout the province.
I will continue to pursue these and other issues with the various Ministers and government officials. I will also focus on these during the next sitting of the Legislature. Some items could be resolved at no cost to the treasury. Others will obviously involve significant amounts of money. Given the hundreds of millions coming from the region these requests are indeed modest. I welcome your thoughts on these and other issues.
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For Further Information Contact:
Jack Weisgerber, MLA Peace River South
#103 - 10312-12th Street, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4S9
Tel: (250) 782-5350 or Toll Free 1-800-665-5118
FAX: 784-2458
Please feel free to e-mail me with future column ideas or comments.
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