News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2004

(OTTAWA) - Following two days of informative presentations and constructive dialogue, farmers and agri-food industry stakeholders emerged today from the ground-breaking National Symposium on Farm Income with a wealth of ideas for addressing Canada's farm income crisis.

'One of our speakers here made a very good point: even if you are trying to think outside the box, you are still using the old box as a frame of reference. To really move forward we need to build a whole new box for Canadian agriculture,' said Bob Friesen, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). 'This week we have made a good start in establishing the framework for that new box.'

The National Symposium on Farm Income, hosted by the CFA, is the first national forum to bring together primary producers, processors, government and other stakeholders to develop and implement strategies that will achieve stable and sustainable incomes for producers, and profitability for all partners in the agri-food industry for generations to come.

Delegates were pleased to see top government representatives, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andy Mitchell, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Wayne Easter, and Conservative Agriculture Critic Diane Finley, take part in the symposium.

Addressing symposium delegates, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andrew Mitchell noted there are steps that must be followed to deal with the farm income question. The problem must be measured and quantified. The roots and causes of the problem must be understood. It must be determined which causes are actionable, and then it must be decided who is responsible for taking action.

'It is critical that we create an environment in which producers are able to earn a living,' said Minister Mitchell. 'While I have given my personal commitment, as well as the commitment of my department, to work with industry on the important issue of farm income, Parliamentary Secretary Easter has taken on the task of addressing this issue as one of his top priorities.'

Symposium delegates agreed on a set of common principles to guide future discussions and actions. In the in-camera session producers tasked CFA with creating the broad strokes of an action plan based on those principles and based on the discussions and recommendations that came out of the break-out groups that will lay down the next steps and form the foundation for a strategy on farm income.

'It is CFA's hope the action plan we will develop will provide a solid starting point for Mr. Easter and the task the Minister has set him,' said Friesen. 'CFA will continue to work with government and all stakeholders. This symposium has created momentum towards a solution, and we must all work together to keep that going.'

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.