JUNE 2014
CELEBRATING 134 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
VOLUME 64 NUMBER 06
OPINION: PLANKLESS IN ONTARIO
Agriculture’s voice ignored in Ontario June 12 election
Four issues are forefront for hor ticulture in the upcoming June 12 Ontario election. Counterclockwise, they are: labour costs, infrastructure, water regulations and access to natural gas to heat greenhouses and other farm structures. Photos by Denis Cahill and Glenn Lowson. KAREN DAVIDSON
INSIDE Hydroponic strawberries debut in Quebec Page 4
Late asparagus crop at higher price Page 6 Focus: Green Technology
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www.thegrower.org P.M. 40012319 $3.00 CDN
Farm voters are bewildered by their Liberal Ontario premier. Since March 2013, Kathleen Wynne has come to the country often to mend fences in her dual role as agriculture minister. A tinkering carpenter she may be, but she’s no musician. She’s shown a tin ear for the economic issues plaguing competitiveness of agriculture. Hydro rates are soaring, infrastructure needs fasttracking and water regulation is onerous. What rankles most is that on June 1, just days before the June 12 election, minimum wages will rise to $11 per hour. That’s a $30 million hit to horticulture alone. In fairness, the Conservatives and New Democratic Party haven’t communicated much of substance either. It’s surprising given that the NDP’s Andrea Horwath triggered the election and that the Conservative’s Tim
Hudak hails from the epicenter of tender fruit and vineyard country, the Niagara peninsula. “It’s very discouraging,” says Jamie Reaume, newly elected chair of the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance (GHFFA). “As of May 20, it’s the third week of the campaign and there are no platforms. There are 73 ridings in the Golden Horseshoe area so that’s not small potatoes. Along with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors, we’ve asked for a debate on rural issues but there are no takers.” The Rural Municipalities of Ontario asked to become a signatory to the debate. Steve Paikin, the host of TVO’s “The Agenda” would have moderated. It was a reasonable request for a debate about agriculture that contributes $34 billion to the economy and represents solutions to many health care issues. It could have been a spotlight on agricul-
ture, the second biggest economic workhorse in the province after automobile manufacturing. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) president Mark Wales is also disappointed in the outcome of the provincial budget submission to the minister. “OFA clearly outlined what agri-food and rural communities need to increase jobs and sustain growth of the industry,” he says. “We recommended programs and policies that would help our industry meet the premier’s challenge to double the agri-food sector’s growth and create 120,000 new jobs by 2020.” OFA’s wish list included: • access to natural gas throughout rural Ontario • food literacy programs in schools • an improved farm property tax system with adequate transfers to municipalities to pay for services provided to residents • increased funding for agricultural research and the Risk
Management Program. The Alliance of Ontario Food Processors also released its list of key concerns on May 20. Chair Norm Beal identified “managing costs of inputs, including the skyrocketing cost of power” as well as modernizing and streamlining regulations. Access to capital for innovation and technology is a need echoed throughout the entire industry. While the Liberal government announced a $40 million fund over 10 years to develop agri-food processing, no details had been released on how it would work. “What we really need is some common sense,” says Ray Duc, chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association, speaking about burdensome regulations on water management. “The regulations around how wastewater is treated are quite onerous.”
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