We should be outraged

For years the Valley has been sheltered from the ups and downs of economic fluctuation because, if nothing else, we have always had the agriculture sector to fall back on.

Agriculture has always been the engine that drives our local economy and a good portion of the provincial economy as well, generating millions of dollars annually in terms of direct farm gate revenue and countless other economic spinoffs.

It’s something that many of us probably take for granted, mainly because it has always been there. However, if the past couple of weeks are any indication, we should start paying real attention to the current plight of the agriculture sector and express our outrage at the way it’s being dismantled, or there’s a good chance someday we might wake up and find it gone altogether.

The government’s virtual abandonment of the province’s hog farmers was hard enough to take, not to mention, on the heels of that news, the announcement of the pending closure of the Maple Leaf poultry processing plant in Canard April 30.

What’s next? We almost hate to ask, but given the record of this current government and its seemingly callous disregard for those who elected it, anything is possible.

We see a serious erosion of the agriculture sector going on, and it seems like the government doesn’t care, or would have us believe it has far more important things to think about or deal with.

Well, the bottom line is there’s not too much that should be more precious to people than their way of life, and if that way of life is being compromised, there should be cause for concern.

It’s unbelievable enough the government would hang the hog industry out to dry, given that all hog farmers wanted was a short-term loan to get their industry back on its feet, not a long-term handout.

Moreover, the amount they proposed is a virtual pittance compared to what the provincial government will likely waste in a given year.

For our elected officials to expect us to believe they knew nothing about the Maple Leaf announcement until after it happened is hard to swallow, but what are we to take from the relative silence of two local MLAs who represent us, not only in the legislature but in the provincial cabinet, not to mention their proportionate lack of outrage since.

The response to what amounts to a crisis in the Nova Scotia agricultural sector is unfortunately typical of a government that seems to have lost track of its priorities.

We elect people to represent our interests, but it seems that when it comes to a choice of having the guts to stand up for your constituents on something really important or toeing the party line, there’s really no choice at all.

Well, we have a choice – the same one we had when we elected them in the first place. If we don’t like the job they’re doing on our behalf, don’t vote for them next time.

And they have a choice, too. They can represent us the best they can – all the time, even when it’s controversial or not strictly the ‘party line’ – or take the chance of being voted out come the next election, which just might end up being sooner rather than later.