For immediate release

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD WILL TRAVEL ACROSS CANADA TO DISCUSS THE GOVERNMENT`S FUTURE ROLE IN THIS IMPORTANT ECONOMIC SECTOR

Ottawa, 19 January 2002 -- The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has received authorization to visit all provinces throughout the country during February and March 2002 to study the “Future Role of the Government in Agriculture.”  Committee members will be consulting with farmers and other agriculture and agri-food stakeholders.

“Modern agriculture is a risky and competitive business, and government intervention has often been used as a stabilizing force.  Emerging factors -- such as environmental accountability, biotechnology, market concentration and multilateral trade negotiations -- are changing the development of the partnership relation between farmers and the government,” said Charles Hubbard, Chairman of the Standing Committee.  “Members of the Standing Committee unanimously agreed that farmers and other stakeholders of the agri-food sector must have the opportunity to share their vision of their respective industry and what they expect from the government in the future,” he stressed.

The Standing Committee will hold hearings in a number of rural communities within each province.  Discussions with stakeholders will focus on the best approach to take in building an improved partnership between farmers and the government to achieve the following goal: making Canadian agriculture an even more competitive and economically sustainable sector.

As part of its travels, the Standing Committee will visit the following rural communities: February 18^th Stonewall and Brandon (Manitoba); February 19^th Davidson and Swift Current (Saskatchewan); February 20^th Grande Prairie; February 21^th Vulcan (Alberta); February 21^th Kelowna (British Columbia); February 22^th Kamloops; March 11^th Grand Bend and March 12^th Napanee (Ontario); March 13^th St-Hyacinthe and March 14^th Montmagny (Quebec); March 18^th Clarenville (Newfoundland); March 19^th Truro (Nova Scotia) ; March 20^th Summerside (Prince Edward Island); March 21^th Miramichi (New Brunswick).  A detailed travel agenda can be found on the Committee’s Website at .  Stakeholders who would like to appear and/or present a submission should contact the Clerk of the Committee no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 25, 2002.