FOR ECONOMIC EXPANSION
ON THE PRAIRIES

e A joint federal-prairie province multi-
billion dollar program of development lead-
ing to a doubling of the population of the
prairies by 1980. Utilization of the Prairie
Economic Council which should be enlarged
to include representatives of the farm and
labor organizations. The council should be
empowered to begin work on a plan that
would call into play the resources of the
people, the public institutions and public
capital which is presently in the service of
monopoly. Private capital would be invited
to participate but the ownership and con-
trol of the decisive projects would be public
and the-benefits would go to the people not
foreign monopolies. The federal govern-
ment should guarantee at least 50 percent
of the financial underpinning of the plan
which would include:

— integrating water resources;

—integrated hydro power grid;

—large-scale development of petro

chemical and plastics industries;

—extension on an all-Canadian route of

oil and gas pipelines;

—development of a plywood and wood

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products industry in Saskatchewan and
Manitoba;

—expansion of rail facilities;

—diversification of agriculture.

@ Nationalization of all American-owned
industries to make them operate in the best
interest of the Canadian people. This points
to the need for the widespread use of crown
corporations and other forms of public own-
ership to guarantee the independent deve-
lopment of the country.

@ The federal and provincial govern-
ments must find new markets for the prairie
wheat and the goods that an expanding agri-
cultural-industrial economy will produce.

e@ A new Canadian constitution to reform
tax-sharing agreements and fix federal re-
sponsibility for the costs of elementary edu-
cation and the health needs of the people of
the prairies. Such a new constitution would
have to redefine provincial and federal res-
ponsibility for the skyrocketing costs of fin-
ancing services in the urban centres while
guaranteeing that grass roots democratic’
control over municipal affairs remains in the

hands of the people.

THE PLIGHT OF
THE FARMERS

It is monopoly control over agriculture
that accounts for the worsening conditions
of most farmers on the prairies. What the
farmers want are markets, full production,
control over monopoly and strong govern-
ment support. Canadian agriculture has re-
ceived less money through government sub-
sidies than any other country in the world.

What are some of the most significant
developments in modern agriculture?

@ The transition to mechanized farming

has been completed in Canada. This has de-
veloped a new relationship between the
agricultural sector of the economy and mon-
opoly. An enormous market has been creat-
ed for machinery, repair parts, fuels and
farm chemicals.

Mechanization rivets agriculture to those
monopolies specializing in the production of
farm machinery, oil, chemicals, etc. The
price of new farm machinery and parts is a
monopoly price, that is, the farmer is charg-

7

‘ea a price which Aes the monopolies to

make super profits.

When the prices of agricultural products
go up, farm machinery prices are jacked up
almost simultaneously. But when agricul-
tural prices drop, the selling prices on farm
machinery do not.

The prices of farm implements have in-
creased by more than 175 percent since

1952, and some replacement parts cost 345

percent more than in 1949, says a brief of

the Manitoba Farmers Union.

The operation of the cost-prices squeeze
has worsened. Costs have risen steadily. The
farmer is more vulnerable to price fluctu-
ations and has a hard job accumulating the
capital with which to pay off debts; buy
machinery and land, as well as to finance his
current operations. |

@ There has been an enormous increase
in agricultural productivity. There is a com-
bination of intensive with extensive farm-
ing of the prairies. The average acreage per
farm has increased. Farmers are today test-
ing soils, applying fertilizers and using chem-
icals for weed and pest control.

The 61-year average for wheat yields in
Saskatchewan is 16.2 bushels to the acre.
In the last 10 years it has been 19 bushels.
Before World War Il, each farm worker
produced enough food to feed 10 other peo-
ple. now he produces enough to feed 32.

The efficient food chains and_ packing
companies subordinate production to their
own ends. They either produce their own

supplies. or integrate the farms. -Nertical
integration puts thousands of small and mid-
die farmers out of business. Chain stores in ~
agricultural production are able to domt-
nate markets, control supplies and prices.
and to bring sectors of agricultural produc-
tion under their control.

Not only is the small farmer being ex-
propriated in the shortest period of time in
all history, accelerated by the technological
revolution, but farms which were consi-
dered viable, that is farms producing a gross
up to $10,000 annually, with big capital in-
vestments, are being affected by high mono-
poly exploitation so that they are experienc-
ing the same difficulties as the small farmer.

Meanwhile, look what is happening in the
home market. The farmer's share of the re-
tail food dollar dropped from 58 cents in
1949 to 41 cents in 1964. The value of raw
food sold by Canadian farmers rose from
$1.2 billion in 1949 to $2 billion in 1964, a
rise of about 40 percent. But in the same
period, the retail value of food sold in Can-
ada rose from $2.1 billion to $5 billion, a
rise of about 140 percent.

Unlike the monopolies the farmers can-
not sit down and set the price of the farm
product; they are compelled to struggle for
their gains.

@ A new technique is used by the mono-
polies to intensify the exploitation of agri-
culture. “Vertical integration” and “con-
tract farming” are the terms used to describe
the adoption of industrial methods of farm

Monopoly interests, are using big herds to influence market prices,