The federal government is asking Parliament to approve a doubling of authorized spending for Agriculture Canada this fiscal year, reflecting a number of program announcements the Conservatives have made since spending plans were approved last spring.
Once approved, it will bring authorized departmental spending for the 2006-07 fiscal year ending March 31, 2007 to $4.276 billion.
When spending estimates for the year were first presented to Parliament by the newly elected Conservative government, the estimate for Agriculture Canada was $2.8 billion.
The largest addition is $873 million budgeted to pay to farmers enrolled in the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program for a retroactive change in inventory valuation for the program years 2003, 2004 and 2005.
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The new estimates also include money for a cover crop protection program, additional funds to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and $190 million to fund the Canadian Farm Families Options program designed to send money to low-income farm families. The government says it will spend up to $550 million on the program over two years.
Typically, the government will present at least one more set of supplementary estimates to Parliament before the end of the fiscal year, seeking approval to spend public money to cover unanticipated costs.
