OTTAWA – The Reform party is proposing that agriculture be placed under “exclusive provincial control”, ending the current federal-provincial co-responsibility for the sector.
The proposal, to be debated and ratified by delegates to the party convention next summer, was contained last week in full-page newspaper ads published on the eve of the Quebec referendum.
It was part of a Reform package aimed at showing Quebec voters that if they stay in the country, the “new Canada” would include a much weaker Ottawa.
Reform agriculture critic Elwin Hermanson said it would not mean the end of Ottawa’s involvement in agriculture policy.
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However, it would be sharply curtailed.
“You would see a much smaller Agriculture Canada,” said Hermanson. “We have seen development of programs to the point that the industry has been regulated and administered to death.”
Ottawa would be restricted to dealing with agricultural trade issues, administering income support programs that are tied to the income tax system and working to reduce interprovincial trade barriers.
“The federal government would still have a role to play as a referee,” he said.
No more details
Complete details of the Reform proposals for decentralizing agricultural policy have not been worked out.
Hermanson said future responsibility for research is unclear. More of it would be administered provincially or done in the private sector but Ottawa still might have some role.
“I wouldn’t want to say definitely because we haven’t worked out all the details,” said the Saskatchewan MP representing Kindersley-Lloydminster.
Under the Canadian constitution, agriculture falls under both federal and provincial responsibility.
Reform is proposing to tilt the balance to the provinces through legislation, rather than constitutional change.
