Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 14, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press a 9 july end of rail subsidy a Boon to maritime a tale of two farm economies by Don Caya special to the free press can you believe a Story of eco nomic successes in the Prairie farm Belt and in the both stemming from private invest ment and sound Public policy this a True account not fic not a and thoughtful read ers will find a moral applicable across the the news is Best in the says the Canada West food processing is flourishing at from the Canad wide value of processed food and Bever Ages increased per buoyed by growth of 23 per cent in 25 per cent in Alberta and 32 per cent in and these three provinces have million Worth of expansions or new plants just opened or just about at the other end of the processed food shipments Rose 13 per cent in that three year Span but not the tale we want to our maritime Success Story is about growing new Brunswick has trifled with Grain throughout living producing at Best 40 per cent of the feed its underdeveloped livestock sector its total Grain acreage typically hovers around but last says Ted assistant Deputy minister of that figure Rose seven per cent to this Pratts guessing its up that much Nova Scotia Grain growing history is even and its harder to get an up Odate handle on whats pening there because most Nova Scotia growers simply feed what they Harvest to their own but buyers and bureaucrats who spend a Little time in the Field agree that this year Farmers have seeded significantly More than the usual acres or what Clever policy let alone these disparate developments and Given the Pun iness of maritime Grain crops in to Only a few dozen Prairie farms should other canadians care the answer is that these Are the first fruits of a Federal decision to end million a year in freight subsidies in the Money went mostly to Export Prairie partly to ship cheap feed to the for decades these generous policies have left both regions poorer than they could and should Treyve Sti fled value adding industries in the West and farming in the Treyve subverted land stewardship in both the perversity of such subsidies has Long been understood political will to end them came More the intent was simple Helg Prairie Farmers sell Grain help maritime Farmers buy what happened is Only slightly More with cheap freight it made Little sense to process Grain in the then pay full Cost to ship finished and it became All too easy to grow Grain on marginal Prairie even when economic the Ory and common sense dictated other meanwhile in the it was cheaper to buy Grain than grow so Why bother the consequences were High environmental brinkmanship and stunted development in both parts of the while Prairie Farmers spent too much time and Energy seeding and harvesting monoculture on even marginal bits of their eve bigger they watched neighbouring villages with the number of Farmers less than half what it once and with paved roads speeding them farther afield to do Small Barbers and Bankers boarded up their these lost jobs sped the closing of hos Curling clubs and the what was left for people to do but farm too Many logical industries feed lots and Slaughter flour Mills and pasta plants and Industrial sized bakeries were going East or overseas with the As the same few crops proliferated in unbroken bands across millions of so did the inevitable lems of monoculture economic and the Prairie Economy bounded or floundered with fluctuations in Grain prices and pest control depended increasingly on overfilling stressed the maritime farms suffered much the potato the mainstay of new Brunswick were put at serious risk with Farmers tempted some would say under spuds enervated the big trac tors and harvesters beat the soil up and smash it Down pack it solid and plow it year after year of the same crop sops up nutrients and Cre ates a Haven for when the soil loses its Spring melt and sum Mer Rains Wash it carving great Runnels Down the slopes of new Brunswick gently rolling it Doest take rocket science to know that a three year rotation eases these but it does take an additional Cash preferably which combines ideally with profits on Grain Are especially on tiny maritime while government subsidized feed shipments by a it was marginal sometimes unprofitable to grow it in Nova Scotia and new so for rather than just seed and plow under Fields of Farmers under rotated the country richest potato their yields inched Down their annual Bills for chemical sprays shot they left uncleared land Nova Scotia Farmers grow fewer potatoes they favour vegetables like carrots and Cole but their problems Are Simi and in both livestock production remains provid ing Only about half the meat mar timers unlike the mar timers process most of what they in new for exam every farm Job creates nearly seven in so even a modest amount More land in production is a godsend for this Job hungry tally the gains communities in two depressed regions get new Industry surgeons in the farm ing grows in the Farmers in ends of the country find incentive to tread More lightly on their wow former minister Doug Young really earned his pay that Day Back in his old trans port department when he pulled the plug on those sacrosanct of As Reward for this and other decisive the prime minis Ter shuffled him and the voters sacked the moral promised at the begin Ning is this economic theory while its often difficult politics to Cut perverse and wasteful spend its always Good Don Cayo is president of the Atlantic Institute for Market based in Halifax and Saint his email address is . Letters to the editor full restitution reasonable request in we married and rented Small House in Grande the 1974 flood began to creep across the driveway and leaving no in 1975 we bought a piece of property in Grande Pointe and built a an Earth mover worked 2 Days build ing the House to 772 feet above sea level accepting responsibility for Liv ing in a flood about new Home builders were advised to build to 771 the 100 year flood the 1979 and 1996 floods gave no in the Brunild z Dike was quickly constructed with other Mea sures being taken to allow time to Complete this time we received a Large prob increased drainage into the Seine River with no government authority overseeing this for the Prairie farm rehabilitation administration has also added to our where is the leadership and Good government we elected statements such As if you live in a flood Plain you must accept response and you live out there to escape High City Are poor excuses for Lack of my spouse and i both work and Faith fully bring Many shopping dollars to the walled City and pay Large amounts of various As do our if Premier Gary Filmon continues with his narrow vision of a province he alleges to the pc party in Manitoba is assured the Fate of the Dinosaur Federal agreements with the fed eral government seem to leave the citizens of Manitoba in dire the province of Manitoba does not end at the perimeter the peo ple of Winnipeg have done a valiant Job of caring for their City and a flood Way is a very logical method of Avert ing do we presently have a statesman such As Duff Roblin to solve the problem of 1997 in reasonable time the responsibility for living in a flood Plain was the actions of others have caused our human action worsened this natural disaster and took the responsibility from placing it on the shoulders of full restitution is it an unreasonable considering the Cir our local Mia faithfully rows Hilmons he should prepare his life preserver for the future a fat government pension is not the Best Richard Jqhn a tide Pointe Manson detractor hides behind Bias a few words to Veronica Fuchs on her juvenile letter concerning Mari Lyn in not sure How crimes Are committed in but where i come antisocial behaviour and hatred Are products of a poor social and narrow How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at . Letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone minded beliefs contained in your let Ter not the lyrics and principles of a Rock if you perhaps took the time to read an interview or listen to the music of you would see that he stands for the same thing the great existential philosophers stood for 100 years ago an end to the Dogma of organized and the Hope for a world in which the individual can discover who they Are by any Means they wish and that even if those Means go against the norms of the newly freed minds of the masses will or at least the individuals form of but since a majority of people Are too ignorant or scared to discover this on their their reaction is typically and in the Case of is delivered from a mind obviously too simple to grasp the full meaning of what she i Admire Manson for at least having the passion to submerge himself fully in what he believes in As an individual if Only the same could be said for you is hiding behind the popular Opin Jay Bruneau Winnipeg greenhouse Story reported too late i am very sorry to read about the impending closure of work and social opportunities was Munroe Avenue greenhouse free july it sounds like a very worthy i think the City could use More such not it is too bad that the free press comments on the Green House Only when it is about to shut perhaps if More people had known about it a few years action might have been taken to ensure its continuing Anbrew arc Winnipeg respect language at this Point in time i am writing to support Johnstons recent plea to save the English Lan certainly Gonna is Marlene Reguly Waters plants at the Waso which is forced to but that is not my Only have we utterly abandoned the letter All i hear is and whatever has become of the blameless three letter word now nothing it appears any longer Hap pens always at this Point in ridiculously pompous English is my second language but i have come to love it please let us All respect this Noble Marlies Friesen Winnipeg name Murray defence chief the Somalia report has been it is excessively and Overly negative on certain individuals and actions and passes judgments that in the minds of most canadians Are the commission is quite right when it indicates that the Canadian forces ought to be put on an even most serving members of Canadas military and attentive members of the Canad an Public will agree that the person to carry out that task is Vic Admiral Larry who has been acting chief of defence staff with great distinction for the past the applause Given by the Canadian Public to the performance of our Mili tary personnel during the Manitoba flooding and the continuing International positive acclaim for Canadas peacekeeping performance indicates that the time for him to be confirmed As chief of the defence staff is Long his performance before the inquiry in which he defended passionately the very professional men and women of the Canadian armed forces and his subsequent guiding of the Mil itary indicates that he is the right per son for the the sooner Vic Admiral Murray is appointed chief of the defence the sooner our military can get on with the tasks that lie Alex Morrison Lester Pearson Cana Dian International peacekeeping training Centre teach children dangers of pets As a Large Breed dog owner and a it sickens me to read about another child being mauled by a parents must protect their no matter How Friendly and Well trained a dog May children must never be left alone with any prevention is the key teach your children at an Early age to stay away from any dog when the owner is not teach them to ask for permission to pet someone else teach them to never put their face near a dogs neck or teach them that a dog is not a and teach them to respect not Only but other animals As when no one is i keep my dogs in the House or locked up in a Kennel outside never Loose in my Yard even though it is completely nor do i allow my 17monthold son to be around the dogs my dogs love people and How i do not want to Ever hear myself if i had please err on the Side of for both their Holly mourant Winnipeg school division chemical ban right i want to congratulate the Winnipeg school division for maintaining a ban on the use of herbicides on its school the school Board is being very Wise and the prevailing chemical mindset cannot change too we have allowed ourselves to be conditioned to see nature As unattractive and to see wee free lawns As healthy and Appeal in maintaining that artificiality with the use of herbicides and we have endangered our health and the health of fellow Crea Mary Jane Gauthier Winnipeg dome Bury by Garry Truo Iau ;