The Ontario government has made a $520 million, 12 year commitment to the provincial ethanol industry that had the province’s 21,000 corn producers smiling, if a bit wary.
Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty said the provincial government will create a fund to help construction of new ethanol plants, provide support to manufacturers if market prices fall, help small gasoline independent retailers who market ethanol blends and fund research into how the ethanol industry can grow.
McGuinty tied it to farm support, rural policy and environmental programming.
“By supporting the production of ethanol fuel, we’re helping our farmers, creating jobs in rural Ontario and moving forward with our plan to reduce greenhouse gases and the harmful emissions that cause smog,” the premier said at a Toronto news conference.
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The announcement came after a week that produced unusually high June temperatures and smog alerts across Ontario.
It also came on a day when Suncor Energy Inc. staged a sod-turning ceremony in Sarnia, Ont., for a 200 million litre ethanol plant. Sarnia traditionally is home to the petrochemical and oil refining industry.
For the province’s corn producers, it was nothing but good news but with a cautionary warning.
“Friday, June 17, 2005 (is) an historic day for the corn-based ethanol industry in the province,” said Ontario Corn Producers’ Association president Doug Eadie.
But there was some suspicion that the promise of government support for ethanol plants may not necessarily benefit Ontario farmers.
The OCPA has fretted that Ontario’s commitment to greater use of ethanol can be accomplished by importing more subsidized American ethanol or subsidized American corn as a feed stock.
Eadie said corn growers will watch carefully to ensure the provincial announcement actually benefits them.
“The OCPA wants to work with the provincial government over the coming months to ensure that the Ontario taxpayer investment announced today results in expanded corn acreage in Ontario and increased purchases by each ethanol manufacturer of Ontario corn directly from Ontario corn farmers,” Eadie said.
