Mr. Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): The state of agriculture and the future of the rural Ontario we once knew are in a state of disarray following a McGuinty budget that has slashed $244 million from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It is a disgrace that this government has turned its back on the very people who feed our cities. At a time in history when other jurisdictions are supporting their agriculture stakeholders at maximum levels, Dalton McGuinty has decided in his wisdom, and with the advice of Ministers Duncan and Dombrowsky, that we probably do not need agriculture in Ontario.

Farm families have income levels that are at 20-year lows. It is now clear that the best crop a farmer can have is a field full of foundations for new homes. Does the Premier not understand that when a farmer earns a decent profit, he or she actually reinvests in the family farm operation? New tractors and equipment, trucks, expansion of buildings: Farmers historically have reinvested their profits.

Today, farmers simply do not have the money to plant their crops. I call on Premier McGuinty to stop this hatred of rural Ontario. Please help our farm families. Allow Ontario farmers to earn a decent living. In a year when the Ontario civil service $100,000-plus club has grown by 22%, the farmers of Ontario have been abandoned by the McGuinty Liberals. The Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture, under the leadership of President Dave Riddell, has not forgotten this abuse by the McGuinty Liberals. They will continue to work hard, the same way they operate their family farms, to let Ontarians know how shabbily they have been treated by the McGuinty Liberals. Remember: Farmers feed cities.