by SUSAN MANN
Only 10 per cent of rural Ontario has natural gas and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has once again told the provincial government the region needs infrastructure so more residents can get the fuel.
If most rural Ontarians had access to natural gas, the annual savings would be $350 million, says Mark Wales, the federation’s president. “That’s all money people could reinvest and that would help attract business to small towns, villages and hamlets.”
There are good models across Canada in other provinces that demonstrate how natural gas infrastructure can be introduced in rural areas, he explains.
Wales says he raised the matter during a meeting of farm leaders hosted by Ontario Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal at the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo last week. Leal says about 15 to 20 leaders attended the 1.5 hour meeting on Sept. 19.
Other groups attending included Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Chicken Farmers of Ontario, the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, National Farmers Union – Ontario, the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency, Flowers Canada – Ontario and the Organic Council of Ontario.
The meeting was held to give farm leaders an opportunity to talk about matters they’re concerned about and about how the organizations and government can continue to grow the agri-food sector, Leal says.
The Ontario government maintains a steadfast commitment to the agri-food sector, he says, using the example of the recent launch of a local food fund of $30 million over three years. The fund will be used to increase awareness and demand for foods grown and made in Ontario.
In addition to outlining the need for natural gas infrastructure for rural Ontario, Wales says OFA also talked about minimum wage matters. The OFA is scheduled to present to the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel on Nov. 1 in Guelph. The panel was appointed by the provincial government to study how the province should set future wage levels.
Wales says other agricultural groups will also be presenting their views to the panel on Nov. 1. “We’ll all be reinforcing each other.”
Wales says one point he plans to raise is how increasing the minimum wage is not a solution to poverty. That’s because raising minimum wage is just fundamentally a job killer, especially for some agricultural sectors such as horticulture, which is the biggest user of labour. “We’ve got huge job creation issues in this province and the last thing we want to do is to be losing any more jobs.”
Labour also accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of the cost of production in horticultural production, he says.
Leal says the provincial government is reaching out to ensure everyone gets an opportunity to make a presentation to the minimum wage panel and “for their voices to be heard.”
About the Open for Business process, Wales says they talked about how that has been a good model for ensuring future legislative problems and roadblocks are prevented.
Leal says leaders also commended the provincial government for its commitment to the Ontario business risk management program.
Asked if there was anything he heard at the meeting that requires immediate government action, Leal says it was to ensure agriculture’s voice is heard as part of the minimum wage discussions and to make sure the government continues the Open for Business process to allow the agricultural sector to thrive and create jobs. BF
Comments
Of course we need more when you support Greed Energy and the Fiberals . You have to have gas plants to support wind turbines for when the wind is not blowing .
I am told that Gov already has policy for gas for all of rural Ontario . So why then is being made to look like something new ?
What will the hook up charges be and the price rural persons will have to pay for rural gas ? It is fine and well to to spout out savings when you are looking at currunt pricing but we all know that the price of the gas and the hook up charges could very well be different for new rural lines . Please show us your research and figures that you are working from to make such claims . The fact that " so more residents can get the fuel " does not mean that they are wanting it for remote rural farmers or even their members who they are supposed to be working on behalf of . It could also be that gas may come to more rural but at a price that is not price competitive . So many get caught up in the price difference . Just like if you look at the price difference between oil and propane . Many only see the price per litre difference but never see the BTU per L difference that makes one the same price as the other .
Some of the home insurance companies will not take on new customers that use furnace oil to heat their homes and some are raising the premiums so high if you use furnace oil to make it cost prohibited that many have to switch to something else. Natural gas is cheaper then propane, but most us here in my part of rural Ontario can not get natural gas.
Kim Sytsma
Gas is quickly becoming the only economical power source remaining for rural Ontario. As Kim says, the insurance industry is pushing oil heat to the curb. Propane is priced to compete with oil so it isn't cheap either.. That leaves mushrooming expensive wind contract electricity costs or much cheaper natural gas. Now add in less kwhr of electricity needed because of conservation, coupled with some unnecessary costly grid upgrades to try and buffer the fluctuations in expensive wind turbine electricity production and we are going to see electricity prices skyrocket to prices that makes Ontario uncompetitive with the rest of the world. In fact, given current factory closures because of uncompetitive hydro costs we already are. Now add in 90% cheaper fuel cells: http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/08/14/redox-power-plans... to help us get off grid and use even less wind power. Duh???? We are already paying to shut industrial wind turbines down for longer time periods (we pay them to produce zero kwwhrs), yet our gov't continues to build more of what we don't need, so we can shut down more and (still pay for even more 0 kwhrs). Little wonder that there are now approx. 80 municipalities having serious objections to any further wind power construction.
You have to wonder "What is the present government of Ontario thinking? " Every time the Opposition mentions that our electricity is going through the roof , driving away jobs and will soon be driving people from their homes the Ontario Government says" You want to kill the children."
One of the few manufacturing plants we have left here in our area received a letter from Odensburg , NY inviting them to move their plant there with the help of N.Y. 3 cent electricity.
traditionally, wind mills were used to grind grains directly and to raise water up on to a higher place -- for use later -- like a battery -- nothing other than a battery is the complement to a windmill. -- any other answer is 'just a gas'
We recently submitted a 36 signed petition, 2 of them small businesses, to Enbridge to extend the Natural Gas line by approx. 3 - 4 km to supply petitioners. Enbridge's answer? It would cost each of these new customers near $40,000 each to extend the pipeline to them. In other words Enbridge is not interested in expanding their customer base, it only wants to increase their profits by asking for a 40% increase to be absorbed by existing customers. Don't you agree?
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