LINDSAY, Ont. — A number of Ontario farmers are elevating issues about dwindling farmland throughout the province as politicians of all stripes collect at an annual rural and agricultural expo. Ontario politicians have descended upon Lindsay, Ont.
LINDSAY, Ont. — A number of Ontario farmers are elevating issues about dwindling farmland throughout the province as politicians of all stripes collect at an annual rural and agricultural expo.
Ontario politicians have descended upon Lindsay, Ont., as a part of their annual pilgrimage to the Worldwide Plowing Match.
A number of farmers from the Waterloo area say they’re involved with a large land meeting of prime farmland within the space that’s cloaked in non-disclosure agreements.
The Area of Waterloo has mentioned it’s attempting to assemble a supersite in an effort to lure a large manufacturing plant.
The province is funding the land meeting, however Premier Doug Ford says he desires the area to deal with farmers pretty.
Farmers say they’re at the hours of darkness and beneath menace of expropriation by the area.
Alfred Lowrick, who lives subsequent to the goal web site, mentioned the complete course of has proven a scarcity of respect to farmers and the lack of farmland.
“We do not perceive why abruptly it got here out of the blue,” mentioned Lowrick, a spokesperson for the grassroots group, Combat for Farmland.
“We wish these 770 acres again, this is not applicable.”
Lowrick’s mother-in-law lives inside the world the area is focusing on and is being pressured to promote, he mentioned.
About two dozen farmers from Wilmot, Ont., throughout the Waterloo area got here all the way down to the occasion and silently held up protest indicators when Ford spoke on the opening ceremonies.
Kevin Ferguson got here all the way down to the occasion from his farm south of Ottawa. He believes Ford’s Progressive Conservative authorities are doing a great job, typically.
“There’s a number of widespread sense strikes that we like,” he mentioned.
However Ferguson believes the federal government has one huge drawback.
“The most important concern coming from a farm background is shedding good farmland to construct after they may produce other decisions,” he mentioned. “It must cease.”
Catherine Fife, a New Democrat who represents the using of Waterloo, mentioned the province can present they care about farmers by not funding the land meeting in her area.
“There was not one public assembly, not one fiscal report back to to most people, and now there’s only a finger pointing train between the regional authorities and the PC authorities, whereby they’re blaming one another,” Fife mentioned.
“However on the finish of the day, it’s Doug Ford who’s funding it, and so he’s driving this complete course of.”
She mentioned the secrecy behind the undertaking is “flat-out undemocratic.”
Political celebration leaders are set to hop on tractors later within the day in a problem to see who can plow the straightest furrow.
Ford acquired a cool reception on the occasion final 12 months after the explosion of the Greenbelt land-opening scandal, a transfer farmers opposed as a result of it will have meant growing prime agricultural land.
Ford finally reversed his determination and returned parcels of land to the Greenbelt, however the RCMP are conducting an investigation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Oct. 1, 2024.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
