BY NED DMYTRYSHYN AND ANNETTE KOURI
REGINA, Saskatchewan - Well over 1,000 farmers from across
Saskatchewan and some from Manitoba converged on this
provincial capital in a convoy of more than 350 vehicles
August 17 to demand government action and immediate relief.
Many people gave the thumbs up and "V" for victory sign in
support of the farmers as the cavalcade - moving at less than
five miles per hour - tied up noon-hour traffic in the heart
of the city. The protesters and their vehicles filled the
parking lot in front of the legislature and spilled out on to
the neighboring streets. This was the third such action in
the last six weeks. Farmers in northern Manitoba rallied the
same day, and on August 19 other farmer protests took place
in Alberta and southern Manitoba.
Thousands of farmers are facing bankruptcy in Canada with the collapse of grain prices, in the worst agricultural crisis since the depression of the 1930s. According to government statistics, net farm income in Saskatchewan last year averaged Can$8,500 (Can$1=US$0.67) and that farmers were losing Can$54.38 per seeded acre according to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food statistics. In Saskatchewan, 1,000 farmers are driven off their land each year.
The August 17 caravan, organized by the Bengough Rally Group, demand an immediate cash injection of Can$80 per acre to help bail out cash-strapped farmers. Harvey Linnen opened the rally at the steps of the legislature on behalf of the organizers, explaining that the actions and meetings on the farm crisis would continue and everyone should sign up to help. "The wives will keep these rallies going while the harvest is going on," he declared. "The bankers are at our door. [Federal Agricultural Minister] Van Clief is not interested in coming to see us, so we're prepared to go to Ottawa. If Ottawa doesn't come to us we'll go to it. Because no one is prepared to lose the family farm." A contingent of 150 farmers is planning to go to Ottawa at the end of August, and is pressing the provincial government to pick up the tab for airfare. A large train convoy to Ottawa is planned for November, after the harvest.
In 1995 the federal government took away the Crow's Rate, a transport subsidy, more than doubling farmers' transport costs. Bengough Rally Group leader Lloyd Pletz said, "Not only is Ottawa responsible for slashing the Crow's Rate but the federal government is responsible for deregulating the railways, which meant increased costs and closure of lines, gutting crop insurance programs, and taxing our inputs [seed, fertilizer, fuel, pesticides] to death. They're carrying a war aimed at driving farmers off the land to fatten their financial coffers."
Signs on the vehicles, which included combines, tractors, and a sprayer, graphically illustrated the situation. "If farming is the heartbeat of Canada then we're in cardiac arrest"; "Food comes from farmers, not Safeway"; and "Urban people need farmers, farmers need urban people" were just a few.
To show that farmers don't cause high prices, one graph on the side of a combine illustrated that one bushel of wheat made Can$29 worth of bread in 1975. Today that same bushel of wheat makes Can$90 worth of bread, but the farmer gets the same Can$3 per bushel of wheat as he did in 1975. Other signs indicated that malt barley prices are Can$2.15 per bushel and that farmers lose more than Can$11 per acre in production. One bushel of barley produces 333 bottles of beer. Retail stores sell that beer for around Can$450.
As these reporters participated in the convoy and rally, many farmers explained their frustration with government inaction, low grain prices, cuts in transportation subsidies, and high prices for inputs - seed, fertilizer, pesticides, and fuel - as well as the failure of current insurance programs to cover their losses. "My income is so low that the last two years I haven't paid tax," said Alan McDougal, who farms in Francis. "Over half my land is mortgaged, I have large machinery payments, and the grain prices are so low I can't meet my costs. Canola prices have dropped about one- third over the last two years."
The current Agriculture Income Disaster Assistance (AIDA) program only kicks in after a farmer suffers a 30 percent drop in income, and bases any aid on the average income of the last five years. Many farmers said incomes have been very low for several years already, and for their income to drop another 30 percent to qualify is ridiculous. Furthermore, it costs Can$1,000 to apply for the program.
Jean and Alain Tremel, farmers from Bruno, argued that the federal government spent "more than $1 billion for the war against Kosovo and only a fraction of that for agriculture in this country. It's wrong."
"The federal government has added over 50 cents a bushel expenses for transportation by taking away the Crow Rate," added Alain Tremel.
Danny Luciuk, who farms in the Wakaw area, said, "For a lot of us farmers it's going to be too late after the next couple of months. I'm going to lose $25,000 this year. I've been farming for 25 years and probably for 20 of those I've worked off the farm, but it's still not enough this year." Luciuk said his wife and their children bear the major responsibility for the farm while he works another job.
Rally participants often booed and heckled politicians from the governing New Democratic Party, as well as the Liberal, Saskatchewan, and Reform parties, who addressed the crowd. "Take the politics out of farming," yelled the farmers. NDP Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan Dwaine Lingenfeller blamed Ottawa for the crisis, and asserted that subsidies farmers receive in the United States and Europe were a major problem. While Lingenfeller was speaking, farmers yelled, "Don't pass the buck to the States."
Many speakers blamed taxes as the major problem. This was a major point of the Reform Party. Lee Cook, who farms in the United States, addressed the rally. He commended the protests and declared, "Agriculture in Canada is in deep deep trouble. Agriculture in the United States is in deep deep trouble."
A University of Saskatchewan student was cheered as he encouraged the farmers to maintain the protests, as this was the only way to get action from the government. He noted that 40 percent of the students at the university come from the farm. As soon as school resumed he promised that students would organize a rally in support of farmers' right to a decent standard of living.
Bob Thomas, president of the Bengough Group, said, "What farmers want to see is a program that guarantees their cost of production. That's what I think is possible."
In an interview at his farm outside Regina near Belcarres, Bengough Rally Group leader Lloyd Pletz explained that 40 percent of the land in the area was rented to other farmers by farmers who don't have the means to work the land. But those who are renting also can't continue. Pletz added, "Farmers in the U.S. and Europe are not the problem," and even though "half the world is starving, the poor countries don't have the money to pay for it."
"I'm going to lose my farm," he said. "The prices don't meet my costs, I'm at the end of my credit and have been for some time, no one wants to buy the land, and I couldn't buy pesticides because I have no credit left. The government is waging war on us. It seems they want to increase their general revenues on the backs of family farmers while driving them off their land."
On August 19, Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow called a provincial election for September 16, the first time an election will be held in the province in the middle of harvest season. The Bengough Rally Group explained that the election will not stop the organization of caravans and rallies. After the rally people lined up to sign up to help organize town meetings, more rallies, and help get people to Ottawa.
Ned Dmytryshyn is a member of the IAM Local 11 in Delta, British Columbia.