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The Canadian farmer is an endangered species! His average age is 55, and unless something is done to encourage younger men and women to enter the industry. in ten years time it will be 65. This somewhat startling statistic was underlined at a September 8 meeting that was called by Rotter,Cotter, of Baden, President of the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture. to inform elected representatives of farmers' concerns about government policies that are causing hardship to farmers every- where. At the heart of the problem is the Farm Credit Corporation, the long-term lending institution which, since 19S9, (when it succeeded the Canadian Farm Loan Board) has been a valuable source of reasonably priced financing for farmers. In the past few years Farm Credit Corporation has been one of a very few sources of fixed rate financing. PCC's importance in farm financing has been enroded in the recent past as the funds made available to it by the federal government have not kept pace with the needs of the industry. My colleague, David Peterson, Leader of the Opposition is continuing his campaign to force the government to bring Ontario Hydro under control. He has proposed an additional amend m to the Power Corporation Act. .1'i'i',i?i',i,'? the Legislature's approval for bo row- ing by Hydro, by the government on Hydro's behalf, and for the government guarantees of Hydro bonds. Such legis» lation would provide a basic procedure of accountability now sadly lacking. The Energy Minister should also demonstrate his commitment to the public good by re-establishing the Lettirr 1ature's Select Committee on Hydro Affairs. Prior to the election of a majority government in 19m. the Select Committee deliberated at length on Hydro problems. and advanced many worthwhile recommendations which, if accepted. would have brought Hydro under greater public control. Peterson has released information contained in Liberal research back, ground documents. tum-hing on such pertinent issues as Hydro's policy direc- tion, heavy water plant construction. uranium mining and contracts. nuclear waste management and the safety of nuclear reactors, The Select Committee served the public of Ontario well - a fact Press Council Queen 's Park Report _ Letters Policy WALTER McLEAN EPP The Chronicle welcomes letters to the editor. Writer's must iden- tify themselves through their name, address and telephone number. We reserve the right to edit. The Chronicle is proud of its tradition of accuracy and fair play, but we do acknowledge room for human error. We welcome complaints or criticism of news, opinions or advertising and hope we can resolve all complaints ourselves. Complaints that can't be resolved should be addressed to the Ontario Press Council. 151 Slater sc, Suite 708, Ottawa. Ont. KIP 5H3. The demand for FCC funds has been growing faster than FCC's budget. This year was the worst. After a provision in the April budget that would have allowed FCC to borrow $000 million in capital markets, the Minister of Finance in an August Slat announcement reversed this permission. He reduced the amount that FCC could borrow to $250 million. This huge short-fall means that projects that would have been undertaken on the strength of fixed rate financing either have to be cancelled or financed through the chartered banks at high interest rates. Cotter and his executive protest that this is yet another example of farmers getting the short end of the stick! At a meeting of the Ontario Federal P.C. Caucus in Kirkland Lake. in Jieptember. my colleagues and I heard the same story from the Temiskaming Federation of Agriculture. Their brief stated that: "The Temiskaming Federation of Agri- culture feels the FCC's available funding should be tied more directly to the growth of the industry, relative to other industries. Farmers find " difficult to The need for Committee Review of what Hydro is doing in the provision of electric energy to the people of Ontario is now greater than ever. Recent events have demonstrated that Ontario Hydro is out of control. Unless public control is regained, Hydro will take us further down the road of dependence upon nuclear power as a dominant generating force with all the accompanying uncer- tainties affecting our financial, physical and environmental well-being. On December ti, 19t13, the provincial auditor said: “It does not necessarily have to be a Select Committee, but a committee of the Legislature is a good forum for looking into various matters, certainly one being Hydro." Hansard of June M, 1983, quotes the Premier: "The government does not oppose consideration of the re-establish. ment of the Committee - on energy, perhaps, rather than just singling out Hydro. I think some consideration might be given to establishing this perhaps during the winter recess rather than this coming fall because of the amount of work." acknowledged by many, including Pro- vincial Auditor D.F. Archer and the Premier himself. Farmers endangered accept when they are told FCC has no more funds available, and then hear of federal government handouts to other industries that are obviously unable to sustain themselves. let alone project growth similar to what agriculture can." Farmers in Waterloo Region are [rus- trated. They feel that the Minister of Agriculture has lost his clout in the Federal Cabinet and that the Minister of Finance has betrayed them. They feel angry. They cannot understand how Cana- dian banks can lend millions of dollars to foreign countries. while foreclosing on cash-poor Canadian farmers. The Minister of Agriculture. Hon. mr gene Whelan, tried to get more money for FCC but failed. His scheme to sell Agri-Bonds could have helped encourage more investment in the land. But this scheme Isn‘t anywhere near the imple- mentation stage. 7 My colleagues in the ofncial Opposition raised questions as soon as the House of Commons resumed sitting. Both the Min, isters of Agriculture and Finance had little The pressures are: 1) salaries and wages are negotiable - as are class sizes, benefit packages, nunr bers of administrators, and to some extent, working conditions. 2) provincial grants vary 3) expenses for heat and light and general maintenance increase almost geometrically. 4) the province mandates many pro- grammes and specified the number of hours required to complete courses. Before the annual controversy about the school board budget starts again, I am going to attempt to make some sense of the cost and financing of education; To adequately explain the issues will take at least three articles and the article on grants (both federal and provincial) may seem unbelievably complex. However, I will attempt. At the outset of this series. I hope to make two things clear. The province has mandated many programs within a framework of diminishing provincial support. Salaries and wages for nearly 5,000 employees in 114 schools cost over 70 per cent of the school board budget. School population. The City of Waterloo. like the prov- ince, has a general school population decline. Compounding the decline is a population shift, away from the cores of cities. Some school systems, like Etobi- coke, operate with fewer than half the students attending schools in 1969 tthe Why do my school taxes keep going up? _ Numerous - nearly endless - myths and pressures surround the school board budget. The myths are: l) the school population is declining 2) the board can control all costs 3) small units of school administration are better “TM WE. MAY. sauna-en 20.1.3 ---PHtE , School views LYNNE WOOLSTENCROFT RICK CAMPBELL is on vacation tion. There is untapped potential for job creation in agriculture. And food is a renewable resource that will never go out of fashion. Canada has the potential to export food for a hungry world, We have the resources. all we need is the political will. to offer the frustrated farm community. In response to questioning from Opposition Agriculture spokesperson, Charles Mayer, M.P. (Portage-Marquette), Whelan said he had asked for more than $250 million but, "I am sure no one in this society gets everything he asks for". Lalonde would say only that his level of FCC funding "is a pretty good record of our concern for the farmers of this country." I feel that any government that neglects to put in place sound agricultural policies does so at its peril. With five percent of the population producing feed for the other 95 percent, the government should be looking at ways not only to help people presently engaged in agriculture but it should be looking at ways to develop new farmlands and to. put more people into food Produc. In subsequent columns, I will discuss salaries and wages, provincially-mam dated programs and grant structures and how they all impact on your tax bill. a trustee from Watefloo faces is the plight of the core schools. Economically, it makes no sense to keep uptown/down- town schools open. Socially, and (of course) politically, it seems ruthless and short-sighted to close them. But small classes in below-capacity schools cost more money to run than schools filled to capacity or near capacity. One of the reasons that your tax bill has risen is that the board has tried to be a good corporate citizen by keeping uptown schools open. It is apparent that the population has shifted significantly in our city. And one of the most emotlyally - teraring issues School population across the Region of Waterloo has not declined significantly. It has stabilized at about 50,009 students. In fact, of two secondary schools approved by the province for construc- tion, one of them is in the Region of Waterloo _ in Cambridge. Schools in Cambridge are bulging. whereas many schools in Kitchener and Waterloo are below 50 per cent of their rated capaci- ty. - year Regional Boards of Educatim were established.) realized. In fact, in Waterloo the level ot funding is at around to to " per cent. That means that the property owners in our region are majority stockholders in terms of paying tor the school system. cent level l but that aiii, Iris [uglier Large school systems were formed to make equitable opportunities tor educa- tion. At that time, the province‘s stated aim was to provide funding at the so per A'