Ten years ago, drought-stricken regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan were faced with a severe shortage of feed for our livestock. In the summer of 2002, we were hit with the worst drought in 133 years of recorded history.
It was the dawn of the 24 hour news cycle and images of our crisis stirred the emotions of Canadians across the country. Farmers in central and eastern Canada were shocked by the reports of the devastating drought. They knew what was surely to follow: unprecedented starvation of cattle and other animals; loss of income from ruined crops; and, families facing the possible loss of their farm income and the farm itself. In fact, our entire western agricultural industry was suffering and it was getting worse as the summer progressed.
By July of 2002, Willard McWilliams and his son Wyatt in Navan, Ontario decided to try and organize a relief effort to share with the west the abundant hay crop in central and eastern Canada. The more calls they made, the more they reached out – the more help they got. Everyone wanted to join in on the “Hay West” effort.
By October 31, 2002, 1,800 farmers gave over 110,000 large bales of hay to “Hay West”. It was delivered by more than 700 rail cars and 160 semi-trailer trucks. More than 1,000 farm families in the drought area received much-needed feed.
Individual Canadians donated close to $500,000. Canadian businesses donated nearly $400,000. Canada’s rail companies donated rail cars and the federal and provincial governments assisted with logistics and administration, as well as fumigation of the wheat.
It was a massive effort that was ‘up and running’ in no time! I was a new politician and I found it remarkable that the entire mission was driven by the hard work of families from rural communities. I saw first-hand the generosity and charitable work of eastern Canadians. As the summer months turned to autumn, it seemed like everyone was involved in unloading and transporting the precious bales of quality feed. As your new rookie MP, I felt like I met just about everyone in our area as so many people turned up to unload and help deliver the hay. There were farmers, seniors, students, local politicians, police, military, local small business owners and workers, and more.
The hay arrived at the two central points of Wainwright and Killam. This is where the many volunteers teamed-up to unload the thousands of bales of hay and divide it into semi-truck loads for distribution. At the Norseman Inn in Camrose there was a lottery held to ensure the precious cargo was shared as fairly as possible. Most of the hay was shipped into East Central Alberta and some of it managed to travel further north.
One of the first things our Conservative government did after we formed government in 2006 was to separate income stability from disaster relief in the programs that the government offers to farmers. Today, Ontario farmers facing drought conditions have access to and are using these programs.
