WhatFinger


Agriculture and small rural business are being forced out of existence

Environmental protection is killing Niagara’s small rural business and agriculture.



- Bob Mackie, Niagara Landowners Association As a landowner, to be a good Steward of the land and not contaminate the water is always a priority, and it should be.

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In the past fifty years we have watched our rural economy disappear at an alarming rate. Environmental protection is used as an excuse by our government to continually impose excessive and costly regulations and land use restrictions to control every aspect of rural life. Rural Ontario represents only 2% of our population and for the most part is ignored by the provincial government. They have painted all of rural Ontario with same brush and have refused to acknowledge the valuable contribution farmers and related agricultural business have made to Ontario. On November 25, 2008 I was invited by the PC Caucus to participate in a press conference at Queen's Park to announce the launch of a rural task force call (PRO) "Partners with Rural Ontario". This task force will be visiting and talking to farmers and rural business people and listen to their stories problems and concerns. The refusal of the provincial government to assist and protect rural Ontario, instead of burdening them with excessive and costly regulation, is killing Ontario's rural economy. We see the effects of the government's disregard for rural Ontario daily. All our processing plants and canning factories have left the country because they have found it too costly to operate. Our basket factories' abattoirs and small butcher shops have all but disappeared. This exodus from Ontario's farmland has force consumers to buy foreign produce, and we have to stop this now. I hoping the newly formed "Rural Task Force" will be able to bring these issues to the surface and get us on the road to recovery. I have recently discovered we have approximately eight hundred agencies, boards and commissions in Ontario. These are appointed non elected bodies; many of which operate with no accountability. These same bodies impose regulations and land use restriction on Ontario citizens. It is sad that the persons we elected through the democratic process have very little influence or authority over these non government organisations. There is a host of non government environmental organisations (NGEOs') that operate parallel to government forcing their own agenda with government funding. The dollar amount is staggering. Instead of this money being used to stimulate our sagging economy, it is used by NGEOs to impose excessive regulations on our rural economy, farmers and small rural business. Not to mention it has stifled municipalities from undertaking necessary development. The "Clean Water Act" was created so government can control the water on private land, like the old west, if you control the water you control what people do on their land. If you want clean water you must stop the major polluters. Ontario's sewage treatment plants have bypasses. When more sewage comes down the pipe than they can handle, raw sewage is released into our lakes and rivers. When the recycling facilities receive more recyclable materials than they can process, the surplus goes in the landfill and further contaminates our ground water. These are huge environmental issues and the government of the day chooses to attack the rural Ontario way of life. Cities and industry are the biggest polluters and agriculture and small rural business are being forced out of existence. The "Species at Risk Act" enforces land use restrictions on private land with little or no regard for natural succession. Our world is constantly changing, with or with out man's interference. If a cultivated field is no longer used for agriculture and becomes overgrown, the bird and animal species change. If the field is left for a longer period of time, these new species of wild life change again. The only way to avoid natural succession is to put these wild life species in a zoo and hope they don't become diseased and die. Species at Risk Act has been in place in the USA since 1973. Farmers had water and land use restriction forced on them, farms were turned into dust bowls and not one of the species at risk increased, their numbers in some cases declined. I believe in protecting the environment and managing wild life, but this environmental agenda is a farce. The "Greenbelt Act" is forcing municipalities into high density housing (more pollution) and imposing excessive water and land use restriction on rural Ontario. Make no mistake this land is going to be used, but not by the current owners. The land will be use and natural recourses will be extracted, the question is by whom? Rural Ontario has a small voice, but rural Ontario has fed urban Ontario for generations. We are fast becoming dependant on foreign food sources, this should not have happened. Niagara has gone from having twenty seven canning factories to zero. Our urban neighbours join your voices with rural Ontario and tell our provincial government you want them to protect our domestic food source and our agricultural heritage. If your right to own use and enjoy and profit from your property has been effected by government or non government action? Post your story on; ruralpartners.ca Ontario must remain self sufficient.


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Ontario Landowners Association -- Bio and Archives

The Ontario Landowners Association shall defend and promote the principal of strong local governments, democracy, and natural justice and represent the interests of the rural community.

For Rural Ontario to survive, Property Rights and judicial reform must be enshrined into law at all three levels of Government, these being; Federal, Provincial, and Municipal.

 

Rural Ontario is under systematic attack by government bureaucracy and false environmentalism.

 

The Ontario Landowners have and will continue to expose and meet these threats with determination and resolve in the court of public opinion.

 


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