Ontario’s Farms Need Urgent Support

Farmers need the cap ripped off the Risk Management Program. Help us wake the government up. Add your name to demand the government safeguard the food supply chain and protect agricultural and rural economies.

Ontario’s agriculture is essential to our food supply chain and is an important part of the province’s rural economies. However, agriculture is set by nature and cannot pause.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on farmers across this province who are being told that their crop and livestock have lost their value, who are forced to pay cell phone and internet bills that are enormous in cost, all while having little access to cash flow.

Our farmers deserve better. Add your name to demand urgent support for farmers.

Ontario’s New Democrats are joining farmers in calling on the government to take the following measures:

- Completely remove the cap on the Risk Management Program to ensure as much stability as possible in Ontario’s food system during the crisis
- Direct Agricorp to expand risk coverage for agriculture insurance
- Provide funding so farmers can hold livestock humanely until processing space opens up, avoiding wasteful slaughter
- Guarantee access to PPE and all necessary equipment, supplies, training and physical distancing measures for the agricultural sector
- Take urgent action to save the restaurant and hospitality sector, key customers for Ontario’s food producers, including the 75 per cent commercial rent subsidy up to $10,000 a month for three months and banning commercial evictions during the crisis.
- Treating rural broadband internet as an essential service, working with carriers to lower costs and remove data caps on the limited broadband services currently available to rural Ontarians, and providing additional funding and leadership to greatly accelerate the delivery of permanent broadband and cellular infrastructure to rural Ontario
- Encouraging the expansion of local food supply chains to fill gaps in imports/exports that have been fragmented due to the pandemic, with additional support for food banks and local food businesses
- Providing enhanced funding to rural municipalities so they can keep workers on the payroll and continue providing essential services safely during the pandemic
- Establishing procedures to identify and respond quickly to new threats to food security during and after the immediate crisis

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