OTTAWA – Farm groups are stepping up their political campaign against increased government user fees, and they’ve won some Parliament Hill allies.
Jim Peterson and members of the House of Commons finance committee promised to carry the message into government that cost recovery in agriculture might be going too far.
“We have heard the message,” the Toronto MP said after listening to farm lobbyists, who were invited to offer views on what should be in the next budget, instead use their time to complain about government user fees.
Read Also
Canola oil transloading facility opens
DP World just opened its new canola oil transload facility at the Port of Vancouver. It can ship one million tonnes of the commodity per year.
Earlier, in the Commons, treasury board president Marcel MassŽ was grilled by Liberal MP Wayne Easter about whether his department monitors the impact of the $100 million in Agriculture Canada user fees, plus the cost recovery charges levied by other departments on the food industry.
“Farmers are increasingly concerned about the multiple impact cost recovery is having on their ability to survive and prosper,” Easter said.
Self-monitoring system
MassŽ said it is the responsibility of each department to monitor the impact of its charges. He said the treasury board then looks at the big picture “and if there is any consequence that appears to be improper, it is then changed and we amend the policy accordingly.”
MPs and farmers complain the treasury board rarely does an overall impact assessment. They say it has done a poor job of defining what is public good, which should be paid for by the government, and private benefit, which should be paid for by the group using the service.
Liberal party sources said complaints also were taken recently to a sympathetic finance minister Paul Martin.
“I think we are making some progress but we have to keep hammering at it,” said one rural Liberal MP. “User fees add to farm production costs when we said we were going to try to lower them. It is an election issue.”
But the main Parliament Hill forum was a two-hour Oct. 31 meeting between an array of farm groups and the Commons finance committee.
“We strongly urge that there be a moratorium on any further cost recovery actions until such time as the consequences of existing and proposed fees for our competitive position are fully examined,” said Martin Rice of the Canadian Pork Council.
Jack Wilkinson of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture complained about proposals from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for a high-cost operation funded 60 percent through cost recovery.
“It is an agency run amok,” he said.
Jim Caldwell of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association joined the chorus, complaining that Canadian producers are expected to pay costs that American cattle producers are not.
It affects the competitiveness of Canadian product.
Unfair costs
Caldwell also noted user fees which affect farmers are not always direct and visible. The processors and companies they deal with also get hit, but they usually pass the impact down to the farm level in the price farmers pay for product.
“They are all getting user fee’d,” complained Caldwell.
Guelph Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain said she had been hearing that message from farmers and food companies in her riding. “This clearly is a major concern and we are listening.”
