Paul Dewar Announces Plan to Protect Canada’s Family Farms

February 27th, 2012

WINNIPEG – New Democrat leadership candidate Paul Dewar has outlined a forward thinking agenda to save Canada’s family farms.
“My vision for Canada includes sustainable family farms that produce safe and healthy food for Canadian families and the world,” said Dewar. “We must end the bias federal agriculture programs have toward large corporate farms and put supports in place to address the family farm crisis.”
Dewar’s plan was endorsed by Manitoba finance minister and former agriculture and rural development minister Stan Struthers.
“These are trying times for many agricultural producers, particularly those hit hard by the flooding in Manitoba this year,” said Struthers. “Farmers are looking for leadership that understands these realities but they’re not getting it from Ottawa. Paul Dewar’s proposals will give farmers hope for the future.”
As part of his comprehensive agenda for protecting and promoting the family farm, an NDP government led by Paul Dewar will work with provinces and territories to:
- Fight for farmers at home and abroad by keeping fair marketing mechanisms in place and pushing for fairness in international trade agreements.
- Establish a national Ecological Goods and Services Program to recognize that all Canadians benefit when farmers manage production in an environmentally friendly way.
- Support the Canadian Wheat Board and other supply management initiatives. And,
- Work with farm families to help transition the farm to the next generation.
“Stephen Harper’s Conservatives turned their back on Western Canadian farmers the day after they were elected by denying farmers a vote on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board,” said Paul Dewar. “I will support farmers in their fight for the CWB and work to keep Harper’s hands off of supply-management.”