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Natural Resources (Forest,
Fishing, Mining, Farming, etc.)
A New Democrat government will work with forest communities, workers and
businesses to develop value-added wood product industries to create jobs and reduce Canada’s unsustainable reliance
on exporting raw logs for development overseas. Jack Layton and Canada’s NDP will establish stable safety net programs
to protect family farms from unexpected drops in income caused by natural disasters and adverse trade rules. They will recognize
the devastating impact of American domestic support and European export subsidies and increase funding for Canadian farm families
until a level playing field can be re-established internationally. An NDP government will ensure that federal help to farmers as a result
of trade decisions does not depend on relief from cash-strapped provincial governments. They will promote an agriculture policy
that preserves what Canadian farmers have created to protect themselves, including the Canadian Wheat Board and supply management
in dairy and poultry. Jack Layton and the NDP will work toward sustainable agriculture outcomes
that will help reduce input costs for pesticides, herbicides and fuel. They will improve food safety through better identification,
increased testing and more public inspection to make Canadian-produced food the most trusted in the world, immediately banning
all animal-to-animal feed. They will also enact a moratorium on genetically modified wheat to protect Canadian export markets
and support mandatory labeling of GM food at home. An NDP government will aggressively reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas
emissions. They will provide incentives to increase value-added processing and packing plants to create jobs for people living
in rural Canada. For more information or to see the entire New Democratic Party plan, visit
their website at www.ndp.ca
Jim Harris and the Green Party will reform agricultural markets to provide
farmers with a fair share of the consumer food dollar. They will protect supply management agencies that provide stable markets,
viable pricing and easier access for smaller family farms. They will also create policies that halt the spread of genetically
modified foods and encourage a transition to organic agriculture. A Green government will stop subsidizing and start taxing pesticide use
in agriculture. They will shift government-supported research away from biotechnology and toward sustainable food production.
The Green Party will implement standards to ensure that resource industries remain viable for generations to come. Sustainable
resource standards will protect forests, restore fisheries and provide good jobs — today and tomorrow. To protect our forests, the Green Party will work with provinces, First
Nations and the logging industry to create national standards that ensure the sustainability of our forests. They will reform
tenure and stumpage fees to encourage selective logging. They will also ban clear-cutting and conserve remaining old growth
in federally managed forests. A Green government will place a 100% export duty on raw logs and use the
proceeds to invest in "value added" forestry. They will promote alternatives to wood as sources of paper fibre — such
as hemp and kenaf. To sustain our mining and fishing communities, the Green Party will work
with other nations to eliminate unsustainable fishing on the high seas, create a system of marine sanctuaries and claim sovereignty
over all parts of Canada's coastal shelves. They will fundamentally alter the management of fisheries by introducing adaptive
ecosystem- and community-based methods that support sustainable fisheries. A Green government will restore ecosystem health
to degraded regions of Canada's oceans by funding sewage treatment programs and river pollution reduction. They will also promote the life-cycle product stewardship of metals to
ensure that, once mined, they remain in economic service for generations. The Green Party will ensure that all mining operations
are insured for environmental liabilities and have a pre-funded plan for remediation when the mine is closed. They will rescind
all uranium-mining permits and prohibit the export of fissionable nuclear material. For more information about the Green Party platform, please visit their
website at www.greenparty.ca
A Conservative government led by Stephen Harper will support the use of
safety net programs to assist producers who are struggling against conditions outside of their control. They will provide
enhanced support to agriculture and the agri-food industry, while acting consistently with international trading obligations. A Conservative government will give grain farmers the freedom to make their
own marketing and transportation decisions and to voluntarily participate in producer organizations. They will ensure industries
under the protection of supply management remain viable and support the goal of supply management to deliver a high-quality
product to consumers for a fair price with a reasonable return to the producer. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives will support rules-based trading systems
like NAFTA and the WTO to promote free and fair trade, especially where the trading partners are unequal in size. They will
secure the future of Canada’s lumber industry through free trade. They will also support a temporary forest support
program for workers displaced by the softwood lumber dispute, and loan guarantees to companies for cash requirements for the
tariff liability associated with trade disputes with the United States. The Conservatives will develop a fisheries managerial framework that gives
provinces and territories more input and control over fisheries management in their region. They will extend the two hundred
mile limit to the edge of the Continental Shelf, the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks, and the Flemish Cap in the North Atlantic,
and increase enforcement efforts within the two hundred mile limit to protect our fish stocks from unsustainable harvesting
practices of international fishers. A Conservative government will invest more in fisheries science and research,
especially relating to sustainable harvesting. They will transfer the policy and science branches of Fisheries and Oceans
to the east and west coasts to better understand and respond to the concerns of fishers. They will also ensure that intergenerational
transfers of capital within a family are treated equitably under the tax system for farmers, foresters, and the fishing sector. For more information about the Conservative Party platform, visit their
website at www.conservative.ca
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