Election: McGuinty out of touch with farmers, says Arbus

NEWS RELEASE

JEFF ARBUS NDP CANDIDATE SAULT STE. MARIE

********************** Rural families and communities deserve a fair deal: NDP

Sault Ste. Marie – (September 18) - Sault Ste. Marie NDP Candidate Jeff Arbus drew attention to the plight of many farmers and rural families across Ontario struggling to make ends meet.

Putting forward the NDP’s Grow Ontario plan, Arbus said farm families deserve a fair opportunity to make a decent living and get ahead.

“Dalton McGuinty is out of touch with farmers and rural families," said Arbus. "He doesn’t understand how hard it is to stay on the family farm. Farmers have to take a second job to pay the bills and wind up with a debt because they want to grow food for the province. McGuinty doesn’t get it. The NDP does, and will fight for fairness for hard-working farming families."

The NDP Grow Ontario plan calls for a risk management strategy, developed by Ontario farmers, that guarantees farmers a reliable, bankable level of income, year after year, even if the federal government refuses to provide funding.

It must be based on a cost of production formula, with production averages and input costs taken at a county level.

"Farmers should not have to pay to grow food for Ontarians," said Arbus.

"The NDP will make sure the provincial government shares the risks that farmers have been dealing with on their own to make sure they have a secure income when they need it most.”

The NDP Grow Ontario plan will also help farm families tap into markets for healthy, locally grown food by launching a major expansion of Foodland Ontario retail outlets and guaranteeing shelf space for Ontario produce in Ontario supermarkets.

“The McGuinty Liberals have made life more costly for farm families, like when they broke a promise to freeze hydro rates," Arbus said.

"The NDP would be ready to fund an Ontario risk management program to help farmers who today face serious financial hardship."

"The NDP will provide hard working farm families solutions that will help them meet the cost of production.”

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