Sousa Visit

Thursday, 5 June 2014 13:40

Provincial Finance Minister toured a dairy farm in Salford in support of Dan Moulton's campaign

SALFORD - The Provincial Finance Minister says he knows the importance of the agri-food industry in not only Ontario but also Oxford County.

Charles Sousa toured a dairy farm in Salford this morning while propping up local Liberal candidate Dan Moulton's campaign.

Sousa says he was impressed by the farm's holistic approach.

"What I've learned today is that they are just as compassionate as they are competitive in the things they do. They have the same concerns that we all do in terms of providing for retirement security so we don't leave anybody behind and that's something that we have also put in our budget. They live it, they breathe it and they do it and those are the kind of things that we want to impress upon others as well."

Sousa says he loves coming to rural communities as that is where you get to experience nature at its best .

"Agri-food processing is critical to our well being. We know that that value added process is where we are going to be more competitive. We need to not only nurture Agri-food but also certainly a lot of other sectors like aerospace and ICT but farming is different today than it used to be."

He says you have small farms that can compete and punch above their weight anywhere in North America.

The owners of the farm immigrated to Canada in 1988 and Sousa says Ontario provides a dynamic, welcoming environment.

"This farm embodies that spirit. This farm talks about how you can invest. This man invested. He invested heavily in technology in order to improve his productivity and we provided tax credits, we provided R&D tax credits, we provided accelerated capital cost allowance, we provided the incentives necessary for them to write off these initiatives, these investments so they can improve their return on their investment."

Sousa says you need a lot of revenue to be productive and the farm he visited produces a lot of dairy and exports a lot of feed creating a lot of revenue for the province.

Sousa says farmers, like leaders in other sectors need to work together and partner with the government for the greater benefit of everyone.

The Minister says he's inspired to do better when he sees how hard farmers work.