As MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee travelled across the country studying young farmer issues, they heard criticism and envy from many about richer support programs in some provinces.Quebec’s insurance programs funded by producers and the provincial government were a prime target in Quebec City May 10.”The province of Quebec seems to be more supportive of its farmers compared to other provinces,” Ontario Liberal MP Frank Valeriote said. This creates competitiveness issues in other provinces and criticisms that “the playing field is not level” within Canada.William Van Tassel, first vice-president of the Quebec federation of commercial grain producers, said he understands the perception. The provincial insurance program, supported with producer premiums, includes some coverage based on production costs.”It’s a program we can rely on and that’s not something you have in other parts of Canada,” he told the committee. But he said Quebec farmers use the same inadequate federal support programs other Canadian farmers use.Still, the underlying message MPs heard is that the provincial model for supporting young farmers is collective action.As in other eastern provinces, the Quebec dairy industry encourages young entrants by offering to loan quota for up to 10 kilograms of daily butterfat production, a saving of $250,000 in the early years based on current quota values.The Quebec egg board offers quota for 5,000 laying hens to one new producer each year and in a province with just 105 producers, that means a one percent renewal every year.Witnesses also called on MPs to recommend that the federal government change the rules to make the $500 million agri-flexibility fund available to provinces to use in ways that best suit their needs.Marcel Groleau, chair of the Quebec milk producers’ federation, said defence of supply management is crucial for the province and its young farmers.And Van Tassel said the Quebec model is to support collective marketing.While anti-Canadian Wheat Board monopoly Conservative MPs on the committee used meetings in Ontario to point out that farmers outside the Prairies have the ability to market their own crop, that argument did not work in Quebec.Van Tassel noted that in 2005, the majority of wheat producers in the province voted to market through a single desk seller. “It is working well.”It also is a small crop, accounting for not much more than 100,000 tonnes each year.
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