NEWS RELEASE

October 14, 2004                                                                           For Immediate Release

BREITKREUZ URGES CITY COUSINS TO WALK IN RURAL FOOTSTEPS

“I am appealing tonight to our city cousins to listen to the pleas of rural Canada for some kind of help, and help us put pressure on the government to act. If we do not act soon, we will not have a good food supply there.”

OTTAWA – Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament for Yorkton-Melville, took a different approach during Tuesday night’s Emergency Debate on BSE, urging residents in Canadian cities to see the peril the Liberal government has placed on the entire agriculture industry and on Canada’s food supply.

“I am appealing tonight to our city cousins to listen to the pleas of rural Canada for some kind of help, and help us put pressure on the government to act,” said Breitkreuz during the debate. “If we do not act soon we will not have that good food supply there. We are going to lose our middle-class farmers. It is going to become corporations that will grab hold of that food supply, and we will see the quality of our food decrease while the price at the store increases.”

While the Liberal government has admitted that the cattle industry has suffered since the lone case of BSE was discovered in May 2003, Prime Minister Paul Martin has refused to adequately assist the agriculture sector or put in place a plan to alleviate the situation. Despite repeated warnings of an entire collapse of the cattle industry, the Liberals have turned a deaf ear.

“The Liberal government has told people in the cities that only two per cent of the people are in agriculture so we don’t really have to worry much about it,” said Breitkreuz. “Ninety-eight per cent of our vote comes from the cities so we can ignore these people. Let me tell you, this is of grave concern to everyone.”

Breitkreuz also pointed to the fear being raised by the business community in Yorkton, a city within the riding of Yorkton-Melville, which has also been hurt by BSE.

“Business people in Yorkton told me they are absolutely devastated by the current situation, so the farm crisis is not just affecting those people who are producing grain and beef,” said Breitkreuz. “It is, by extension, affecting all of our cities.”

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