The Mayor of St. Pierre says he is displeased with the government’s plan to withdraw certain farm services from his community.

Just last month province indicated they would be downsizing the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation by eliminating departments from 21 communities. According to Raymond Maynard, St. Pierre has one of only two bilingual centres in the province and both are set to shut down by April 1st. The other is in Somerset, west of Carman.

The Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation outpost is located in the RM of De Salaberry office building.The bureau in St. Pierre has been assisting farmers with crop insurance, pesticide advice, and grant applications since 1931 and Maynard says losing that service would really hurt his village.

“Obviously that means there is going to be a loss of jobs and a loss of services to our local farmers It’s bad! Especially closing the only bilingual offices around, that is not a good thing.”

With the local centre closed, Maynard says farmers in need of those resources will have to go as far as Steinbach or Winnipeg; a valuable time commitment of hours as opposed to mere minutes.

“This is bad for the village,” he states. “It is an office that is lost, it is a job that is lost, it is a service that is lost. If we keep losing services like this we will turn into just another bedroom community with no services available! We want to grow, not go smaller.”

Frustrated with this plan, St. Pierre and the other bilingual municipalities in Manitoba have begun lobbying the government.

“Basically, the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities has sent letters to all of the ministers involved requesting that they reconsider their decision to close these offices, especially the bilingual ones, because those are services that are required,” explains the Mayor who is worried French-speaking farmers will not even have access to help in their own language if the province follows through.

The group feels this move is contrary to the priorities outlined in the Francophone Community Enhancement and Support Act that was adopted by the present government. They believe eliminating bilingual positions is a historic step backwards for the province and are frustrated that they were neither contacted before this decision was made nor informed of its reasoning.

Maynard adds the government has not yet said anything in response.