Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Laurent Pellerin complained to the powerful House of Commons finance committee last week of a disconnect between government announcements and money getting to farmers.
He used the government’s Growing Forward program and this summer’s hog sector aid announcement as examples.
“The budget is one thing but delivery after the budget is very important,” the Quebec farmer told the committee as it launched extensive hearings about what should be included in the 2010 budget.
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“Make sure that farmers have access to those dollars and that we change the tough situation they’re in.”
Pellerin said the business risk management programs included in the five-year Growing Forward framework have yet to pay out even though the programs officially started April 1 and the year before that was supposed to be a “transition year” to get programs like AgriStability and AgriInvest up and running.
“We now are in September and no money is flowing out of this program,” he told MPs. “You have to use the money in the same year and if you don’t use the money before March 31, this money will be gone. We’re already in September and not one dollar has been put out of these programs. It’s a big problem.”
Likewise, he said agriculture minister Gerry Ritz made an August announcement that led people to believe more than $800 million in payments and loans would be available to the hog industry.
“The announcement was at the beginning of August but we still don’t have Treasury Board approval and no money is flowing out,” said the CFA president. “The banks, who are supposed to be partners in this announcement, are not very inclined to use the program and not one dollar has flowed out of this program up to now.”
It echoed a theme often raised by Liberal critics of the government. Conservatives are good at making announcements but not so good at getting money out the door to farmers.
A rural Ontario Conservative MP picked up on the theme.
Daryl Kramp, who holds the eastern Ontario seat once held by former Liberal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief, said he shared Pellerin’s concern about slow payments and it has been a problem for many years.
“Delay is time lost and time is money,” he said. “For many people in the agricultural community, particularly in livestock right now, their difficulties are so time sensitive they need the money now.”
He said he and the finance committee “will be bringing all the pressure we can to bear on the respective ministries to ensure the most speedy flow possible.”
Kramp also liked a CFA idea that young farmers trying to get into the business should be able to cash in
RRSPs or education savings plans without penalty to buy a farm, as they can do to buy their first home.
“We ask that they be able to use this money for a one-shot buy, their first buy of a farm and to use that money that they set aside as an investment,” Pellerin told the committee.
“This is one suggestion that I think it powerful and positive,” responded Kamp. “It’s not something that’s going to commit government to a long-term structural deficit but for a transition period I think it is an excellent idea.”
