The federal and Ontario governments have again agreed to step outside rules for disaster financial assistance programs to provide extra help to eastern Ontario farmers hurt by the January ice storm.
Two weeks ago, the two governments announced an additional $20 million will be spent to cover extraordinary expenses. These range from stress counselling and damage cleanup to replacing feed, produce or livestock. And part-time farmers will be compensated the same as full-time farmers.
“The governments of Canada and Ontario recognize the magnitude of the losses faced by eastern Ontario’s farmers who were so adversely affected by what is now recognized as one of the greatest natural disasters in Canadian history,” federal minister Lyle Vanclief said in a statement announcing the federal help March 27.
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The help will be available to farmers not covered by private insurance and not eligible to receive help from the regular government disaster assistance program.
And the ministers held out the possibility of even more assistance in future, once the medium to long-term impact of the damage has been assessed.
Severe ice damage to trees has led some in the industry to speculate that it could be years before eastern Ontario’s maple sugar industry and woodlots are back to pre-ice storm production levels.
The additional help follows a strong lobby effort by farmers in the area and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
In the House of Commons, opposition Reform MPs have said they are sympathetic to the farmer plight and support the help they are receiving.
However, they have criticized the federal government for taking an uneven approach to disaster compensation. While eastern farmers have received disaster help, Peace River farmers who suffered two years of excess moisture and little or no crop have received no help.
Vanclief has argued it is a provincial government responsibility to declare disaster zones eligible for help. Ottawa automatically joins the effort. Neither Alberta nor British Columbia have declared Peace River farmers eligible for disaster assistance.
Last week, Brandon Progressive Conservative MP Rick Borotsik proposed through a private member’s bill in the House of Commons that a national committee representing governments, farmers and agriculture-related industries be created to develop national standards for disaster relief.
He said existing rules result in unequal treatment for farmers.
“Without consistency in the delivery of assistance programs for farmers, it will only create divisions between farmers in this great country,” said the Tory MP.
