Editor,
Re: “We need to 'future-proof our survival' in B.C.," letter to the editor by Corwin Hiebert
Mr. Hiebert is right to promote local food production. In the 1980s, due to a glitch in the original NAFTA, we lost most of our food processing industry. I had not realized the extent of it until I recently began avoiding American product.
In years past, Safeway sold jams and jellies that were produced in the Fraser Valley. Farmers in Delta grew peas that were canned and frozen by Royal City Foods. Frozen dinners were produced in Listowel, Ont. There was a Campbell's Soup plant in Toronto. I could go on and on.
We should be assuming that our close economic ties with the U.S.A. are finished. We need to rebuild that industry. Farmers will need the increased domestic market to replace lost share of the American market. Consumers will need it to avoid the heavy tariffs on imports. We will need to replace the jobs that will be lost in other industries.
Our government must take actions to encourage the rebuild of our food processing industry. And they should start now.
Bill McConnell, Surrey
