Written By : Dave Blount

As bad as flooding can make life for farmers, things can always get worse, thanks to Big Government:

Bureaucrats have added insult to injury for a corn farmer south of Montreal whose fields have been damaged by near-record flooding.

Martin Reid says he’s been forced to buy a fishing licence to remove carp that are swimming in a metre of water on his flooded-out fields.

He says he bought the permit to avoid the problems he faced the last time he was forced to remove fish from his flooded farmland. In 1993, Reid was fined $1,000 for illegal fishing. …

Reid says the fine will jump to $100,000 if he’s cited a second time.

Reid is required to safeguard the lives of the sacred carp, transporting them in water-filled containers. If any die, he must bury them — presumably with memorial services appropriate to the carp’s beliefs.

What’s more, his permit expires in two weeks even though floodwaters have yet to recede.

Typically, the bureaucrats making his life hell congratulate themselves on their helpfulness:

“The idea is to help farmers,” said [government spokesweenie] Jean-Philippe Detolle. “The licence was issued to reassure them they won’t be fined.”

Why doesn’t Reid resist?

“If we wanted to challenge it we would have to sue the federal government and pay lawyers,” he said.

“The legal process could drag on for five years.”

Reid is right where our rulers want everyone: trapped between lawyers and bureaucrats.

A day will come when the farmers leave their fields to the carp, and let the lawyers and bureaucrats eat their papers and edicts.

On a tip from Steve T. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

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