(OTTAWA) – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is putting Canadian politicians and media on notice: agriculture issues will not be ignored in this election.  To put agriculture on the election map Canada’s farmers will target candidates with mailouts, local debates, and a reprise of the televised national agriculture debate held during the 2004 election featuring the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the opposition party agriculture critics.

“Farmers will not accept the silent treatment they got in the last election,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “There are over 300,000 farm operators in this country. This industry generates nearly nine per cent of our GDP. What affects our industry affects all rural Canada, and even major urban canters. The farm vote counts, and we have issues we need addressed.”

CFA has four main policy priorities it wants to see addressed by the political parties and their leaders and candidates:

• Industry-driven farm policy. CFA just met with Canada’s agriculture ministers and presented its plan for the next generation of agriculture policy – a Farm Bill for Canada. All parties must commit in their policy platforms to working with the industry and supporting industry-driven farm policy, including short-, medium and long-term measures. CFA will ask Canada’s political party leaders to endorse the CFA proposal for a Canadian Farm Bill.
• Trade. WTO negotiations are reaching a crucial juncture. All parties must make a firm commitment to defending Canada’s interests at the WTO – reducing global export subsidies, expanding market access, and preserving our domestic marketing systems like supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board.
• Farm income and the Easter Report. The income crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing Canadian farmers today. The Wayne Easter report offered some of the best analysis of the crisis to date, and made numerous recommendations that are supported by the industry. CFA calls on all party leaders to set aside partisanship and commit to implementing the recommendations of the Easter report.
• Supporting farmers who provide a public good. CFA calls on all parties to include in their platforms a recognition of the public benefits farmers provide – such as food safety and environmental stewardship initiatives – and a commitment to ensuring the cost of providing those benefits is shared equally among all the beneficiaries – consumers and the public.

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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.