(TORONTO) – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is extending its thanks to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the agriculture critics from the Conservative Party, NDP and Bloc Quebecois for giving farmers an outstanding and substantive debate on the issues facing Canadian farmers today. CFA, in partnership with Canadian public broadcaster CPAC, held the debate in Toronto before a live audience of Ontario farmers, and with farmers from across the country tuning in by television, webcast and telephone. On the podium with moderator Ken Rockburn of CPAC were Charlie Angus of the NDP, André Bellavance of the Bloc Quebecois, Diane Finley of the Conservative Party, and Liberal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andy Mitchell.

“In an election that has often featured nasty and personal attacks, these four candidates gave Canadian farmers a civil and informed debate on substantive issues. I want to thank them all,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “The ideas exchanged in this debate will help farmers across the country make an informed decision about who they want to form their next government. It will also help farmers and farm organizations to work with the next government, and with the next opposition parties, to build better agriculture policy after the election.”

The candidates in the debate answered and debated six questions posed by farmers across the country. The topics of the questions included: supporting farmers who provide a public good through environmental and food safety initiatives, assisting the transition of farms to the next generation of farmers, reforming the CAIS program, ensuring markets for Canadian export goods, addressing the long-term farm income crisis and supporting a Canadian Farm Bill such as CFA has proposed, and supporting the farmers’ right to make their own marketing choices through systems such as supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board.

CFA wants to thank the many Canadian farmers who submitted questions for the debate, as well as the CFA members who attended in person – particularly the hundreds of farmers from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Unified Voice movement who attended and who engaged in public awareness activities in downtown Toronto before the event.

For farmers who could not attend or listen in on the debate a written transcript will be available on the CFA web site by January 18: www.cfa-fca.ca

CPAC will also rebroadcast the debate before election day – check the CPAC schedule on their web site for dates and times: www.cpac.ca

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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.