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From YouTube: FEB 15 2023 Statements Ian Paton
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
4th Session
42nd Parliament
A
Member
for
Delta
South,
thank
you.
Mr
Speaker,
I'm,
happy
to
rise
today
on
February
15th
to
celebrate
Canada's
agriculture
day
Canadians
from
coast
to
coast
come
together
to
celebrate
the
food.
We
love
and
the
people
who
produce
it
Canada's
agriculture
day
is
an
opportunity
to
express
our
gratitude
to
Farmers
for
their
dedication
and
hard
work,
regardless
of
weather
conditions
and
challenges.
They
continue
to
provide
us
with
nutritious
and
safe
food.
We
have
certainly
seen
our
farmers
in
BC
overcome
a
lot.
A
In
the
last
few
years:
floods,
fires,
Avian,
Influenza,
mudslides,
the
rising
costs
of
feed,
Fuel
and
fertilizer
Mr
Speaker.
The
list
goes
on.
It
was
so
fantastic
to
see
such
a
great
turnout
of
farmers
and
Community
this
year,
at
both
the
Pacific
agriculture
show
in
Abbotsford
and
the
island
agriculture
show
in
college
and
Valley.
A
These
events
have
come
back
bigger
and
better
than
ever,
with
thousands
of
farmers,
exhibitors
and
vendors,
coming
together
from
across
the
province
to
share
knowledge
and
learn
about
the
latest
trends
in
agriculture
and
talk
about
various
issues
that
are
top
of
mind
going
into
the
2023
growing
season
at
the
Abbotsford
show.
I
had
the
great
honor
to
meeting
with
Farmers
from
around
the
province.
A
At
this
event,
the
BC
agriculture
Council
honored,
five
leaders
in
BC's
agricultural
Community,
Dairy
Farmers,
Haley
Jacobs
and
Jimmy
Meyer,
were
honored
with
the
champion
of
Agriculture
award
for
their
support
during
the
November
21
floods.
They
also
ordered
honored,
long-time
Dairy
Farmer
bran
Ben
branzima,
with
the
Excellence
leadership
award
for
being
a
Pioneer
in
organic
Dairy
farming.
A
Here
in
BC
and
Michelle
gendra
of
shilohack
was
awarded
the
agriculture
in
the
classroom
outstanding
teacher
Award
for
engaging
children
at
several
levels,
including
growing
food,
vastly
they
gave
special
recognition
to
the
Ministry
of
Agriculture
staffer
Lonnie
Stewart
for
his
knowledge
of
the
various
agriculture
support
programs
offered
by
The
Province.
This
month,
I
also
went
to
the
Vancouver
Island
agriculture
show,
which
is
the
only
agriculture
trade
show
now
serving
the
food
and
farming
community
on
Vancouver
Island
and
the
gulf
Islands.
It
was
a
great
show.
A
These
shows
are
so
important
because
they
bring
together
the
current
issues
in
farming
with
the
equipment,
research,
vendors
and
suppliers
to
support
farmers
and
farm
operations.
In
BC
we
have
a
great
farming
community
in
BC
and
I
was
grateful
to
see
the
AG
Community
come
back
together
again
getting
ready
for,
hopefully
Mr
Speaker,
a
successful
2023
season.