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Millions of acres lost

February 11, 2015   ·   0 Comments

In a November 2014 Ontario Farmer article by Alex Binkley, we read that almost 2.5  million acres of prime farmland (Class 1) went out of food production across Canada between 2001 and 2011.

The agri-food sector currently generates $34 billion a year in gross domestic product (GDP) and sustains 740,000 jobs – about one in every nine jobs across the province.  Over the past decade, even when other parts of Ontario’s economy experienced a downturn, Ontario’s agri-food sector has registered growth, at an average of about one per cent a year.

Only .5% of the land in Canada is comprised of prime farmland (Class 1) and 50% of that is located in Southern Ontario. But statistics show that in Ontario alone we are losing approximately 350 acres of farmland per day.

To put that into perspective;

• 350 acres of barley can produce 346,791 cases of beer

• 1 acre of land can feed one person for a year

• by the time a child turns one, 130,000 acres of farmland in Ontario will have been lost to development

Support NDACT in protecting our rare and non-renewable prime farmland.   Our politicians need to see that this is an important issue for Ontarians.  Take the Food and Water First pledge http://foodandwaterfirst.com/pledge/

Karren Wallace,

NDACT

 

‘Totally unacceptable’

With all the talk about a zero budget increase during the election and now having a mayor who is working towards that end I find it totally unacceptable for Councillor Scott Wilson to keep up his chatter about not coming up with a “realistic figure” and “an exercise in futility” to try and balance a zero increased budget.

As Councillor Wilson wants to perpetuate a rising budget process as he has in the past, and seems unwilling to work with our new mayor, and other Council members who seem to be “realistic” about its implementation, perhaps he should have run against Mayor Williams last Fall for the mayor’s seat.   In today’s world he probably would not have won the nomination.

Mayor Williams is not advocating austerity, he is in fact listening to those who voted him in on the platform he is trying to implement and needs full support of all Council members to succeed, not any Councillor who tries to bully his ideas of how to run our great town.

If Councillor Wilson is not happy with the new (old) idea of “running in the black” then I suggest he should resign Council and we should have a by-election with some “realistic” entries for his replacement.

Ron Lehman

Orangeville

 

Facts for Liberals

I was amazed at what nonsense Jamie McAlpine was spewing in a recent addition of your paper. Strange coming from an educated man. I assume he is backing Trudeau from his comments.

Liberals don’t like to let facts spoil their agenda. So here’s just a few of these facts. 1. Justin Trudeau said he admired communist China, one of the most polluted countries in the world, with a dismal human rights policy. 2. He said the deficit will look after itself. 3. He told his M.P’s they must support his views on abortion and drug legalization or leave. And you say Harper muzzles his party. What nonsense.

Also, you called Clair Hoy stupid. Mr. Hoy is a far smarter man than you. He believes in facts. Want more facts? Trudeau made speeches in Mosques with known terrorist connections, with people who believe in wife beating and killing non-believers like Jews and Christians. That’s only about Federal Liberals. Of course you know about their provincial counterparts. Such as fraud and corruption running wild. The E Health scandal, Ornge, Hydro plants and the Sudbury scandal. In my opinion McGuinty, Wynne and Sousa should all be in jail. So save us your hyperbole about Hoy and Harper, only a Liberal would believe that.

Jim Campbell

Shelburne


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