News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2004

(OTTAWA) - Canada's farmers have been let down again by their national political leaders and by the national media. Despite repeated calls from producers in every part of the country, the leaders' debates Monday and Tuesday failed to address any agriculture issues or policies.

'There are some two million people employed by the agri-food industry. Those Canadians want to hear about what will be done to restore profitability to farming. They want to hear what will be done to address global trade inequities,' said Bob Friesen, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). 'Health care and Charter rights are important issues. But to the thousands of farmers who are wondering about the future of their way of life, those are definitely not the only issues.'

All political parties have released platforms on agriculture. However for most of the parties it is difficult to find those platforms on their web sites. The election web sites of all the major media outlets do not even list agriculture as an important issue in this election.

'Farmers are faced with a difficult decision in this election,' noted Friesen. 'How are they to know which way to vote when party leaders aren't addressing agriculture issues, nor are they being addressed in the media.'

CFA has prepared a package of agriculture policy materials which have been sent to candidates in every riding. To educate candidates, media and the public about agriculture issues and to aid farmers in making an informed choice, the party agriculture platforms and other election information can be found on the CFA election web site: www.cfa-fca.ca/2004-election

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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.