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Support for Farmers
Publisher: Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS), St. Catharines, CanadaYear Published: 1977 Pages: 13pp Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX951 The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society was founded in June 1976 by a group of individuals concerned about the future of Canada's agricultural self-sufficiency. Abstract: The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society was founded in June 1976 by a group of individuals concerned about the future of Canada's agricultural self-sufficiency. PALS is a non-profit citizens' group based in St. Catharine's, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario. From June 1977 until March 1978, PALS sponsored the Canada Works Project "Resources for Urban-Rural Cooperation," a public education program designed to promote awareness of the need for conservation and the wise utilization of our limited resources. As part of its information service, PALS (in 1977) published a document entitled "Support for Farmers." PALS feels that "although somewhat old," this draft of the organizations' statement of policy is still "very relevant in aims and scope." In fact, some of the problems, have in the opinion of the author, become intensified. The objectives put forth in the document are two-fold: (1) land preservation in Niagara and Ontario, and (2) the fostering of development and support of federal, provincial and local policy which will provide a secure financial future for farming. In its "Agricultural Support Policy," PALS addresses the questions of reassessment of tariffs, the promotion of Canadian markets, the value of long-term agricultural commitments, the provincial role in designating areas of valuable agricultural land, and the curtailment of non-farming severances. Additional suggestions put forward are the promotion of Canadian foods, lowered production costs to assist the Canadian farmer to compete with foreign imports of surplus foods and thus assist the consumer, and financial assistance to farm co-operative processing outlets and to Canadian companies interested in starting processing industries. When submitting the "Support for Farmers" Document to the People's Food Commission in march 1979, PALS pointed out that "our recent oil crisis, a perhaps forgotten sugar shortage, and the more recent lettuce prices should serve to remind us of the essential task at hand-preserving the farmer, and the land." Subject Headings |