Mr. Speaker, tomorrow farmers will gather in Lethbridge for a reunion. It will be a bittersweet time.
Nine years ago 13 farmers went to jail for a cause they believe in. Reports from October 31, 2002 said:
There were few dry eyes in front of the Lethbridge courthouse Halloween afternoon as 13 upstanding citizens hugged their loved ones and marched resolutely off to prison.
Premier Ralph Klein told the crow of 600, “When decent, hardworking Alberta farmers are willing to take the extreme measure of going to jail for the sake of fundamental freedoms, there's something wrong with the laws of the land. It's a system that has to be changed”.
That system is now being changed.
The Liberal government had persecuted these farmers in every way possible, bringing the resources of several government departments against individual Canadians. These farmers would not back down. They stood fearlessly for what they knew to be right, and they paid a huge price for it.
Tomorrow they will be meeting to celebrate our commitment to marketing freedom. Their sacrifice will not be in vain.