Barrett bill to address infectious diseases

Proposed legislation to be debated Thursday, Nov. 20

For Immediate Release
November 6, 2014

Queen’s Park – Ontario’s Agriculture Minister refuses to answer when the entire Local Food Act will be proclaimed.

“We shamed you into finally proclaiming the section for increased access to local food through the tax credit for farmers who donate to community food programs, food banks, churches and other groups like that,” Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett told Ag Minister Jeff Leal this morning in the Ontario Legislature. “But you still haven’t proclaimed other parts of the bill. You speak of being open and transparent, but today you should be publishing your first annual report on local food in Ontario. Minister, today is your opportunity to be open and transparent. Why are you saying one thing and doing another?”

Rather than announce a target date of when Ontarians may begin seeing local food being served in government buildings, Leal took the opportunity to speak about VQA wines.

“Since May, the sales of those VQA wines are a quarter of a million dollars, contributing to the great success of the Local Food Act right across the province of Ontario,” Leal said.

Following Question Period, MPP Barrett said the success with VQA wines is all well and good; however, that was not the question at hand.

While still in the House, Barrett tried again: “We all voted for [the Local Food Act]. Your Premier boasts of being a champion for local food, yet years later I ask, why do we still not see local food in our schools, in our hospitals and other government institutions? Why are you holding back? Why has that initiative not been proclaimed?

Despite Barrett’s persistence, Leal would not, or could not, answer the question.

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AGRI-FOOD INDUSTRY
Mr. Toby Barrett: To the Minister of Agriculture: Today is the one-year anniversary of the Local Food Act, but you chose to proclaim this legislation in …
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Mr. Toby Barrett: To the Minister of Agriculture: Today is the one-year anniversary of the Local Food Act, but you chose to proclaim this legislation in sections and play politics with it for election purposes. We shamed you into finally proclaiming the section for increased access to local food through the tax credit for farmers who donate to community food programs, food banks, churches and other groups like that. That was an amendment based on five years’ work by our colleague, the member from Sarnia–Lambton.
Applause.
Mr. Toby Barrett: Good work, Bob.
But you still haven’t proclaimed other parts of the bill. You speak of being open and transparent, but today you should be publishing your first annual report on local food in Ontario. Minister, today is your opportunity to be open and transparent. Why are you saying one thing and doing another?
Hon. Jeff Leal: That question is a bit rich from that member. When it came to developing the Local Food Act, we took the opportunity to reach around to all sides of this House to put together a piece of legislation that is profoundly changing the agricultural sector in the province of Ontario. We’ve introduced the sale of VQA wines at farmers’ markets in the province of Ontario. Since May, the sales of those VQA wines are a quarter of a million dollars, contributing to the great success of the Local Food Act right across the province of Ontario.
But the facts are that on numerous occasions I’ve gone out of my way to recognize the member from Sarnia–Lambton. When we did the announcement in Hamilton, I made sure that the member from Sarnia–Lambton was up front with me and gave him a chance to speak to the gathering that day, and he knows that.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?
Mr. Toby Barrett: It’s a little baffling. It’s been a year; there’s no data. One of the provisions of the Local Food Act was to publish goals and targets. Minister, you’ve had a bit of a rocky start, obviously, with farmers and food banks, and the needy, who would truly benefit from this kind of legislation.
Again, you talk about being open and transparent. This is a prime example of how you aren’t and how you fail to live up to your own legislation. We all voted for it. Your Premier boasts of being a champion for local food, yet years later I ask, why do we still not see local food in our schools, in our hospitals and other government institutions? Why are you holding back? Why has that initiative not been proclaimed?
Hon. Jeff Leal: The Local Food Act has been an overwhelming success in the province of Ontario. Everywhere I go, the opportunity in north, south, east, west—I visit farmers and they continually talk about the success of the Local Food Act.
Just this morning—perhaps the member for Haldimand–Norfolk was a bit late when he came to the Egg Farmers of Ontario’s omelette breakfast this morning. But again, during my remarks, I paid tribute to the member from Sarnia–Lambton, the gentleman who developed the tax credit for donations that are made by farmers to food banks in the province of Ontario. That’s the way we operate on this side of the House. We recognize people who make contributions to the agricultural sector in the province of Ontario, and I don’t share the member’s assertions at all on the Local Food Act.