Mr. Speaker, safe farming is smart farming. That is the theme for Farm Safety Week in Manitoba which began on March 11 and will end on March 18.
A recent study by Statistics Canada revealed that from 1991 to 1995 almost 72% of all farm deaths in Canada resulted from working with or around agricultural machinery.
Without a doubt a farm can be a dangerous place to work and live. On average, 100 work related fatalities occur on farms annually.
StatsCan also revealed that the three prairie provinces have a much higher rate of injuries than those in eastern Canada. That being said, knowledge, experience and technical advances in safety are crucial to reducing farm incidents in the future.
I hope this week that Canadians will take note and further educate themselves to the realities of farming life. It is vital that we do our best to make farming communities the safest they can be.