Apparently it’s not the hydro, it’s the humidity
Greenhouse vegetable growers in Essex County are bolting to Ohio because of “high levels of humidity” here, MPP Bob Delaney, parliamentary assistant to Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault, stated during a visit.
Let’s ask people who know what they’re talking about.
Mucci Farms has 180 acres of greenhouses in Kingsville that produce tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. It initially planned to expand there. Now the family-owned and operated company, started in 1963, is expanding in Ohio.
Mucci would like to stay in Ontario.
“That’s where our home base is,” project manager George Dekker told the Windsor Star’s Doug Schmidt. “But we are reaching a breaking point.” It’s that humid here? Of course not. “Hydro is the No. 1 reason,” Dekker said.
Ontario has the largest concentration of greenhouses in North America, with almost 2,880 acres under glass. Most of that is in Essex County. Is anyone here concerned about humidity?
“I’ve never heard of that being an issue,” Dekker said.
Leamington Mayor John Paterson, whose town is at the epicentre of the industry, has been working with greenhouse growers since he was elected a councillor in 2006.
“In all of the discussions I’ve had with greenhouse owners, humidity has never, ever been mentioned,” he said.
Here’s Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
“I couldn’t make an argument why Windsor and Essex County would be more humid than Ohio,” he said. “The farther south you go, the more humid it’s going to be. It certainly would be more humid (in Ohio) than Windsor.”
Said Phillips: “Somebody’s trying to justify something.”
So what about crippling hydro bills?
Oh, yeah, that’s a factor, Delaney admitted.
Oh, yeah, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk found Ontarians paid $37 billion more than market price for electricity over eight years and will pay another $133 billion by 2032.
Oh, yeah, the chamber of commerce calls hydro costs the No. 1 issue facing business and has asked the government to curb skyrocketing prices, warning some businesses could close.
Oh, yeah, the government’s own polls show hydro is a top concern, according to The Canadian Press.
Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal announced the $19-million Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative last week. That’s nice, Dekker said.
“But ultimately, it’s still the discrepancy in the price of hydro. Cap and trade is another component. Those are the two critical components,” he said.
Delaney was here to herald the Fair Hydro Plan providing residents and small businesses with a break on their bills. It’s not clear if Mucci is eligible for this program or a different program.
More government programs — you can bet more paperwork — to fix a broken government program.
Greenhouse growers here fill a tractor-trailer every 10 minutes some months. They account for 65 per cent of the $1.3 billion in farm cash receipts from Canadian greenhouses. They employ about 10,000 people. They built 170 acres of greenhouses last year at $750,000 to $1 million per acre.
It’s not only the greenhouses. It’s fertilizer and labelling companies, trucking companies. Migrant workers spend $18 million a year in Leamington businesses. It is far-reaching. It is this region’s second largest industry.
And it takes a great gob of gall to tell people paying the price for the government’s botched policy that the problem in the region with the longest growing season in Canada is weather.
“I would take exception to that,” Dekker said.
Delaney said he learned a lot about the potential of agriculture here. The government hadn’t been hearing that, he said in another bit of nonsense.
“I don’t know how much more yelling and screaming we need to do,” Paterson said. “We’re always showing (the government) the numbers and promoting the industry because we need them when it comes to infrastructure — hydro, gas, roads.”
Don’t blame the weather. Don’t make unbecoming partisan jabs at local NDP MPPs.
Own the problem, show some leadership and solve it, as Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Matt Marchand advised, before more greenhouses head to Ohio and plug into coal-fired power plants.