Tobacco Board Optimistic Federal Help on the Way

Source from:  brantfordexpositor.ca By Daniel Pearce 03/14/2008

Federal help for tobacco farmers, who say they have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by a rapidly shrinking industry, could be on the way. Tobacco board officials met with Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in Ottawa on Tuesday and issued a statement afterward saying the government "wants to take action" to help them. Ritz told the board he would try to put together a rescue package for ailing farmers "within the next week," said Tom McElhone, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board. A second meeting is expected within 10 days and will include provincial officials, as well as representatives of cigarette companies and tobacco buyers, McElhone said in an interview. Asked if a solution was close at hand, McElhone said: "We don't see this as a long, drawn-out process. We're going to hold the government to account on it." The board has been trying for many months without success to secure a buyout program to help farmers leave the industry, which is about one-seventh the size it was a decade ago. The board has also said it is willing to accept an end to the supply-controlled quota system it prospered under for 50 years and switch to a system in which farmers sell directly to cigarette companies. McElhone said Ritz "reiterated" in the meeting on Tuesday "that he wants to solve the problem. He said he wants to resolve the situation using existing (aid) programs, but he was not ruling out the development of another program. He said he would do his best to put something together within the next week." Demand for tobacco grown in Ontario's sand plain has dropped dramatically due to a decline of smoking and cheaper imported leaf. Hundreds of growers have dropped out of the industry and many say they face financial disaster due to debts and investments in now useless equipment. On Wednesday, Ritz's office issued a short written statement and described the talks held this week as "productive and frank and produced good ideas to work with going forward. Enditem