Farmers complain about the management of control points

Farmers complain about the management of control points

Several farmers have complained about the management of road controls that have been installed, especially between L’Isle-aux-Allumettes and Pembroke.

According to some farmers in the Pontiac Ouest sector, who preferred to preserve their identities, they were questioned for 5 to 10 minutes, especially on Thursday and Saturday, to justify to the police the reasons for their travelling to Ontario.

The farmers added that the police did not immediately accede to their request even if they showed their Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) card, and some of them said that the police insisted that they urn around.

A police officer also warned a farmer not to go to Canadian Tire, otherwise a fourteen day mandatory isolation period would be imposed. “I had no choice, the only part to repair my equipment was there and it was not available anywhere else,” the farmer explained to CHIP 101.9. He therefore lied to the police in order to get the part in question and return to his farm. “I will have to go there again this week, this time I hope that the police officer will be able to show an appropriate judgment”, the farmer added.

Pontiac Ouest UPA spokesperson, David Gillespie, confirmed the information and said that at least six farmers have spoken out. The MRC Pontiac Warden, Jane Toller, also confirmed that farmers experienced this type of situation during the long Easter weekend.

Agriculture has been identified by the Government of Quebec as an essential service. The police checkpoints remain at the Ontario border and on the limits of the MRC Pontiac territory.