The federal government told Parliament two weeks ago that in the 2007-08 fiscal year beginning April 1, it plans to increase Agriculture Canada’s budget by 11 percent.
According to the spending estimates tabled in Parliament by treasury board president Vic Toews, the department’s projected spending next fiscal year will be $242 million more than the $2.2 billion estimated for this year.
However, the number is fiction because it often bears little resemblance to what actually is spent.
The estimates do not take account of unexpected spending during the year, including budget announcements or other unplanned spending.
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.
As an example, the federal government during the past fiscal year asked Parliament to approve an extra $2 billion for the department for spending ranging from the $755 million grains and oilseeds program and the Canadian Farm Families Options
program.
It means that approved Agriculture Canada spending for the current fiscal year is $4.1 billion rather than the originally approved $2.2 billion.
It is difficult to compare year-over-year estimate levels for a judgment on increases or decreases because the estimates do not reflect final spending, said Natalie Moore, acting manager in the estimates division of the department.
“Things change,” she said.
Still, government analysts say the formal request for spending authority does offer a glimpse of government priorities and expectations, barring the unexpected.
The government is asking to allocate $270 million to the Canadian Farm Families Options program for low-income farm families in 2007-08, according to the estimates.
By the end of February, the department reported that it spent $207 million on the program that was announced last summer as a $550 million, two-year pilot project.
The estimates also project a $15 million, or 13 percent decrease, in departmental environmental program spending at a time when the government is promoting environmental programming.
At the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the spending estimates ask to more than triple funding for public security measures to $81.5 million.
Meanwhile, it projects a 22 percent decrease in spending on the science and regulations functions of the agency.
The overall CFIA budget for the new fiscal year is set at $587 million, a $16 million increase from this year.
