News the University of Guelph will shut down its agricultural school campus in Kemptville is bad News for rural Ontario, says Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece.
“This is not just a sign of the times,” stated Pettapiece, who also serves as PC caucus critic for rural affairs and horse racing, in a March 14 press release. “It’s a sign of just how little rural and small-town Ontario has mattered to the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals over the last 10 years.
“As minister of agriculture, the premier should have known this would happen, and should have taken steps to prevent the closure,” added Pettapiece. “Sadly, leadership appears to be lacking when we have only a part-time minister of agriculture.”
Kemptville will stop accepting new students in fall 2014; classes and research programs will finish by the end of 2015. Guelph’s Ridgetown campus will remain open.
“Agriculture education is so important to our area,” said Pettapiece.
“It trains the next generation of farmers, and the next generation of leaders in the agri-food industry. Research and innovation are also critically important – and by allowing Kemptville to close its doors, the government is putting these at risk.”
Pettapiece graduated in 1968 from Ridgetown College with a diploma in agricultural technology.
