Provincial ag critics announced

Thursday, October 27, 2011

by SUSAN MANN

Veteran Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman has been reappointed as the Ontario Progressive Conservative’s agriculture critic.

He has served as the agriculture critic since 2008 and has held a number of Cabinet positions when the Conservatives formed the government and other critic positions since first being elected to the Legislature in June 1995.

The number one concern in rural Ontario is the same as in urban areas, he says. “We need to deal with jobs and the economy.”

For the agricultural industry, the Liberal government also has to ensure the business risk management program works for all farmers. Hardeman says he’s heard a lot of concern expressed particularly by livestock producers that the program doesn’t seem to work for them. The government has to stay focused on getting the outcome the program intended to deliver.

Another concern farmers have is the need for government to reduce red tape. That’s a major priority for most small agri-businesses, he says.

The Conservative’s deputy agriculture critic is newly elected Perth Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece.

For the New Democrats, dairy farmer John Vanthof, MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane, is the agriculture critic. Vanthof, a former board member for Dairy Farmers of Ontario, has owned a dairy and crop farm with his wife, Ria, outside of Earlton, since 1984.

He was first elected to the Ontario Legislature on Oct. 6.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says in a statement on their website she’s assembled a shadow cabinet “that will bring energy and a wealth of expertise from inside and outside the Legislature.” BF