Liberals Champion Local Food

[Michael Hardner]

Vancouver Sun Article

A proposed Liberal national food policy and a chance for farming to be a federal election issue are music to the ears of Essex County Federation of Agriculture president Larry Verbeke.

“Maybe somebody up there is finally listening,” the Leamington vegetable grower said Monday.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Monday the Liberals will help farmers get home-grown food on Canadian tables with Canada’s first comprehensive National Food Policy.

It would include a four-year, $80-million Buy Local Fund to promote farmers markets and local foods and $50 million over four years to improve food inspections and make sure imported foods meet Canadian standards.

And this:

Farmers have long argued it is unfair to compete with imported food from countries where farmers don’t have the same regulations and

... growing conditions are better.

Economic policy continues to be meted out according to what plays politically....

Canadians continue to shop at Wal-Mart, and to outsource manufacturing, IT and other things ... yet somehow certain industries evoke the images of hands held over our glowing hearts and the tear running down the cheek of the veteran.

Check this chart:

CPI for food...

http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/econ156a-eng.htm

Did you notice that Dairy has gone up 30% (not imported) whereas seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables have barely gone up or have gone down ?

[punked]

Remind me of all the progressive promises Liberals made in the past again. Red book? So this is just a bunch of BS. Good plan to bad we can never count on the Liberals to do it.

[M.Dancer]

An easy promise to make, impossible to deliver without trade barriers.

On top of that, it has very little traction with ordinary folks. Sure, locally grown is great..I imagine the citizens of Ft McMurray will cheer....as long as the lettuce grown in the green house is as good as the trucked in variety.

Poor iggy...

[Sir Bandelot]

Iggy may be using this and avery other issue possible to advance his own political agenda (beware a drowning man), but despite that I do support the local farmer, whenever I can. Some food grown in foreign lands can be adulterated. Pretty sure that milk and beef is not made from cows that are fed certain questionable steroids, in Canada. but who knows, we are lied to all the time by governments and special interest groups.

Still, globalization as led to losses in manufacturing, textile industries in Canada, because these things can be made much cheaper in countries where there are no environmental regulations, labour laws or animal cruelty laws. It's ironic that we create such laws for ourselves, for the protections that they provide, then turn around and buy goods made elsewhere.

[Wild Bill]

Remind me of all the progressive promises Liberals made in the past again. Red book? So this is just a bunch of BS. Good plan to bad we can never count on the Liberals to do it.

Perhaps you should cut them some slack on this one, Mr. P. After all, the Liberals have a great deal of experience with food, given their long standing relationships with Montreal restaurants...

[capricorn]

Funny, I don't recall a national food policy coming out of the Liberal thinkfest held less than a month ago, although plenty of new and costly initiatives were put on the table at that time.

"We believe passionately in competitive corporate tax rates. We're telling you though, we can't afford them now. There's just too much we have to do to get our fiscal house in order and make the investments that will make us a productive society."

He said those necessary investments include a national learning and education strategy - from national child care to skills training - that will help ensure companies don't face a severe shortage of skilled labour as baby boomers hit retirement age.

"Corporate Canada, for whom I have the greatest respect, needs more tools than just the corporate tax to keep us competitive."

Ignatieff said a Liberal government would also invest in green technologies, illness prevention programs and homecare.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100328/national/liberals_thinkers

He made it clear those new Liberal initiatives would be funded out of the savings resulting from the cancellation of corporate tax cuts.

Now Ignatieff tells us he would draw from those same savings to pay for his national food policy.

He says the Liberals would pay for the program by freezing corporate income taxes, instead of cutting $6 billion a year in corporate taxes as the Conservatives plan.

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/04/26/liberal-national-food-policy.html

Of course, there's no guarantee that the projected savings would total $6B. That figure is merely a guesstimate.

Then there's this.

The national food policy proposed by the Liberals includes an international component -- a promise to foster food security in Africa and the world's poorest nations and also to expand Canada's food export market.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Liberals+promise+more+homegrown+food+Canadian+tables/2956790/story.html

I find it improbable that you can open up new global markets for domestic foods while at the same time closing your own market to foreign foods.

All in all, it sure does look like this food policy is a post Liberal thinkfest plan hatched to placate rural Canada over the Liberal position to maintain the long gun registry.

I'm all for helping our farmers refine and sell their excellent products. I just don't think we can afford these national programs at this particular time.

[xul]

Still, globalization as led to losses in manufacturing, textile industries in Canada, because these things can be made much cheaper in countries where there are no environmental regulations, labour laws or animal cruelty laws. It's ironic that we create such laws for ourselves, for the protections that they provide, then turn around and buy goods made elsewhere.

Maybe it's time to give Harper the majority and let him make some changes on these laws.....

Edited April 28, 2010 by xul