‘We’re right behind you, Randy’

It's unfortunate that some people do not agree with what Ontario Landowners’ president, Randy Hillier is doing. Maybe his approach is a bit off, but keep in mind he's the only person taking a stand against the corporate and government wrongdoings affecting the agricultural and small independent business sector across Canada.

I have only met Randy once, so I don't know him well, but I do know that right or wrong depends upon which side of the fence you are standing, and our democratic freedoms are going to disappear if we, the farmers and small independent businesses, don't stand up to our governments and say "enough is enough."

Agriculture in Canada is so varied -- the types of farming, the size of farms and the production systems used that this has created the most diversified, freethinking, independent class of people in the country.

Yet what is happening to agriculture now is very serious. Simply to avoid bankruptcy, we now have to bypass the corporate sector and sell directly to the consumer. The corporate sector does not like this and they, along with the government, are creating legislative roadblocks.

Look at the greenbelt policy. Last year, we had a very bad drought in the fruit belt. Our crops were less than half, and market prices were down. Many farmers had to pull money out of their life savings just to keep the banks from foreclosing on them. With the greenbelt legislation, we are landlocked. We cannot even sell a lot to pay off our debt, and therefore we lose our entire farms, as well as our homes, which cannot be separated from our land.

Currently, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Ontario health authorities, Ministries of Labour, Environment and Natural Resources, the Ontario egg board, the dairy board and even the Ontario SPCA can come onto your property with little reason and no warrant for search and seizure.

I ask, what kind of democracy is this? This country was built up as a land of opportunity, but that has been stolen from us. It's time we stand together and take back what is rightfully ours before it's too late. Keep going, Randy, we're right behind you! BF

David Honey
RR1 St. Catharines

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