The third day of CKDM’s MLA Q&A saw the three Dauphin MLA candidates continue to talk about the issues facing Parkland residents.
The question asked this time was “what is your message to Parkland producers?’
Liberal candidate Cathy Scofield-Singh had this to say.
“The reality is, you look at our summer this year it has been brutal. It’s either been, for the majority of us, it’s been too dry, and then we did get rain, it wasn’t enough. We need to be there for our farmers to help support them because, without farming, we don’t have our basic food needs being met. We need to have supports in place for them. I grew up on a farm, just outside of Carleton Place in Ontario, and I can remember how difficult it was those years when it was dry and stuff. Our farm was just a hobby farm, but we had cows, and we had horses, and we needed to be able to feed them, and it’s not cheap to ship in the feed and stuff. We may need to look at how are we gonna keep our farmers going? I don’t have the answers for that yet, but it’s definitely something I will look into, once I am elected as the MLA.”
PC Party candidate Brad Michaleski’s answer was this:
“Well, of course, I am fairly familiar with the farm scene, and what’s been going on in the Parkland in terms of a dry year. I know some areas have been, they are in year two of this, so there’s definitely some challenges and anxiety on the livestock and the feed side. We know the government has tried to work and implement an insurance program, self-directed insurance program, to alleviate that. And in terms of the grain and oilseed side, of course, there is, you know it’s in the news all the time, the trade wars between the countries. Agriculture feels and hears that right away, and it does bring a high level of anxiety. Our producers are dealing with forces outside our province, outside our country. These are trade disruptions, but within those things, again, opportunities do have a way of showing up and again farmers can see those opportunities, and they’re dealing with those changing market forces all the time. I think there’s a number of changes that are going on in the market, the demand profile is changing. I think agriculture; again, they have a pretty good sense of what the market is looking for, and they’re fairly easy to adapt if they can see if it’s the right market to be in, they’ll respond accordingly.”
And NDP candidate Darcy Scheller shares her thoughts:
“Agriculture is definitely one of the largest economic drivers here in this economy. It’s very important, I want to work with them, again, it is not my background, but my background is in business, and agriculture is a business. Together, I think that we can keep things moving positively forward. With new innovations, and possibly drawing in some new population into this community.”
Be sure to listen to "CKDM's MLA Q&A" during the 7, 8, Noon, 4, and 5 o’clock newscasts.
