Farmers want more PC party information

May 29, 2018

The Progressive Conservatives still haven’t released a fully costed platform

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Ontario producers say the Progressive Conservatives (PC) need to provide more information how they would run the province if elected on June 7.

With only nine days until Ontarians head to the polls, the PCs still haven’t released a fully costed platform.

Along the campaign trail, PC leader Doug Ford has made many promises to voters. Examples include freezing the minimum wage at $14 per hour, reducing the price of gas by 10 cents per litre and cutting hydro rates by 12 per cent.

But farmers want more platform details before making an informed decision.

“Mr. Ford says he’s going to cut gas prices and give us a whole pile of stuff,” Philip Armstrong, a cash crop and dairy producer from Peel Region, told Farms.com today. “I like hearing that, but I have no idea how (the PCs) are going to balance the (provincial) budget. I hope they have a plan.”

“There’s just not enough information out there right now,” said Paul Arva, a ginseng, chicken and soybean producer.

The PC party has released some details on its plans for farmers and rural Ontario.

If it forms the next government, the PCs would increase the Risk Management Program cap “by $50 million annually,” allow for private natural gas expansion and invest in rural broadband access, a May 23 release says.

Other producers remain confident that Ford and the PCs can help steer Ontario in the right direction.

“I’m a conservative and we’re going to make do with what we’ve got,” Todd Arthur, a cash crop and dairy farmer from Middlesex County, told Farms.com today. “I hope Doug Ford does well.”

A fully costed platform is coming, Ford told reporters yesterday. But an exact date for its release is unknown.

Farms.com has reached out to the PC party for information on the possible platform release.

Check out the previous coverage on the Green Party, Liberal and NDP plans.

Be sure to also review the exclusive election section in the June/July edition of Better Farming.

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