The Conservative MP for Huron-Bruce is talking up the Harper government’s performance on farm issues in the sitting of Parliament that ended recently.
Ben Lobb says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz got his travelling done through the first half of this year in an effort to secure foreign markets for Canadian agriculture.
Lobb says one of the pillars of his government’s broad-based agriculture agenda is to expand foreign markets for Canadian commodities.
Lobb says Ritz and federal Agriculture Ministry staff have been pursuing that goal on a global basis.
Lobb says Ritz and senior staff have been looking almost everywhere to assure the future of our farm markets.
He says the government has been working on agriculture marketing agreements with China, India, the Middle East and South America since last fall’s election.
He says it’s crucial for Canada to expand foreign markets which thrive on the law of supply and demand.
Lobb says the Agriculture Ministry’s work goes on and there’s a lot left to do.
Lobb says new markets are opening up on a constant basis because of the work Ritz and Trade Ministry representatives have done.
Seeking additional markets is seen as a priority by Ottawa in the face of depressed commodity prices which in turn are being affected by the overall slow economy.