ALFRED — A growing number of farmers are insiting that compensation be included in the Clean Water Act.

"The word compensation is a dirty word," because Ministry of Environment officials don’t want to talk about it, said Prescott County Federation of Agriculture vice-president and dairy farmer, Reg Presley at a July meeting in Alfred, east of Ottawa. Yet it is the very word that needs to be included in the terms of reference of the Act, he insists. "We have to lobby to have compensation included. We won’t be able to get compensation when we are affected unless we have it included now." 

St. Bernardin dairy farmer, Guy Levac, told attending Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Jean Marc Lalonde: "What does Ontario run on? It’s not the auto industry. It’s not Toronto. It’s farmers. Why do you not care about the farmers?" Levac emphasized that cooperation of MPPs was needed to place compensation in the terms of reference. Farmers applauded Levac when he said: "It’s easy for you to do if you have the will to do it." 

 The issue is a matter of fairness, said Terry Otto, Ontario Federation of Agriculture executive member and Metcalfe farmer. "We don’t want to screw the system. But neither do we want to be screwed by the system."

As it stands, municipalities will be able to target three specific areas for source water protection: land within 100 metres of a municipal well head, land near a cluster of privately owned wells and any land within 200-metres of a municipal drinking water intake pipe. What that means to a farmer may take five years to play out.

At a Kingston meeting, Environment Minister John Gerretsen told farmers that there would never be enough money to compensate people for changes they may have to make to conform with the Clean Water Act and affected property owners will have to live with it.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture executive member Mark Wales said the spreading of biosolids on farmland is included in the province’s list of risks to drinking water sources. Noted Wales: "Does this tell us something about the ministry’s approach to protecting drinking water sources for the citizens of Ontario?"