WINNIPEG (Staff) – The premiums Manitoba farmers pay into the Gross Revenue Insurance Plan next year won’t be as high as some had feared.
The provincial government removed a clause in the program requiring it to be actuarially sound by the time it is scheduled to wind down in 1995. It will pay farmers an estimated $315 million for crop damage suffered due to last summer’s record rainfalls and abnormally cool temperatures.
The so-called “sunset clause” meant premiums would have had to double next year, Enns said.
Instead, the Manitoba cabinet opted to remove the clause and examine any remaining deficits if and when the program ends.
But Enns warned that premiums for all three participants – farmers and the federal and provincial governments – will still go up next year.
