Alberta will be the second province to sign implementing agreements for the agricultural policy framework this summer, Alberta agriculture minister Shirley McClellan said last week.
The announcement came as federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief reminded provinces that unless they sign APF implementing agreements, they won’t get a disaster relief program to deal with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in the cattle industry.
“The new program is better than what was there before,” Vanclief said May 29 at a news conference. “They are there for the primary producer.”
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Earlier, he told the House of Commons agriculture committee the APF would be available to cover farmer losses because of lower prices and lost sales.
“The way the program is set out is whatever is needed will be there,” said the minister. “We have that assurance that it will be there. If we need more, there will be more.”
Canadian Alliance MPs said they are skeptical the APF will provide funding that is close to adequate.
In Edmonton, McClellan said the APF will provide both safety net protection and more money for food safety programs.
“We’ve made a commitment, and this was the commitment in the agricultural policy framework to brand Canada as the absolute safest supplier of product in agriculture,” she said.
In Regina, Saskatchewan agriculture minister Clay Serby said provinces have little option but to sign the APF even if they believe the funding for food safety and safety net programs are too low. He said he would sign by the end of summer, although claims cannot be made against the disaster funds until next year.
Provinces must sign to get money for their industry, since the old disaster programs have disappeared.
“We’re without any safety net right now,” said Serby.
In early May, Newfoundland became the first province to sign APF implementing agreements.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen, a fierce critic of Ottawa’s APF safety net design, complained in a May 29 interview that Ottawa is using the cattle industry crisis to blackmail provinces into signing a flawed agreement that most farm groups oppose.
“Dealing with the BSE issue should not be tied to signing the APF,” he said. “It is another pressure tactic to sell something that is unacceptable.”
