Dion Slams Tories Over Tobacco File

Source from:  January 26, 2008 By Sun Media DUNNVILLE, Ont. 01/28/2008

Federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion says the Harper government should be ashamed of itself for raising false hopes of a quota buyout in tobacco country. Were the Liberals in power, Dion said his party would have handled the issue much differently. "The first thing you do is not come with broken promises as the Conservatives have done," he said during a whistlestop visit to a large greenhouse operation. "I will not come like the Conservatives with false hopes." Dion said a Liberal solution would include transition assistance to other types of farming. He cited ginseng as an alternative crop that holds promise. Federal officials in Ottawa have been discussing an orderly wind down of tobacco farming with the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board for the past two years. Tobacco farmers have become increasingly angry and frustrated as the negotiations drag on with no end in sight. Tom McElhone of Waterford, chair of the marketing board, debriefed Dion on the progress of negotiations. Enditem