Online consultation regarding Saskatchewan farmland ownership laws has begun, but some are questioning the method of obtaining input.
Both the opposition New Democrats and the Progressive Conservatives, who don’t have a seat in the legislature, say public meetings should be held on such an important topic.
Agriculture minister Lyle Stewart said online surveys and mailed submissions will be accepted until Aug. 10. He will also meet with specific stakeholders, such as agricultural organizations and lenders, by invitation only.
However, he said public meetings will not be held.
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“We want to hear from as many Saskatchewan people as possible in a relatively short period of time,” he said.
“We’re hopeful that at the end of the day we’ll have a large number of submissions either online or in writing and that there will be sufficient opinion, one way or the other, expressed that we’ll be able to use to guide government.”
He said few people are heard at public meetings.
“Certain individuals tend to monopolize the time and even bully others into not making submissions that they might have been prepared to make if they can do it in privacy,” he said.
Agriculture critic Cathy Sproule disagreed. She said the online process is not transparent and people won’t know how the results will be processed and released.
She said the NDP will likely organize its own public meetings to gauge opinion, but added summer isn’t the best time to do that.
“I don’t think every public meeting turns into a knock-em-down debacle where someone intimidates someone else,” she said.
“I’ve seen lots of respectful and thoughtful public meetings. It’s a way of getting information that’s, I think, time honoured, and I just find it weird that this minister is avoiding them.”
PC leader Rick Swenson suggested the government is afraid to face constituents on this topic.
“Without pubic meetings, no one will have a chance to hear the opinions of others, allowing the government to come to conclusions that will suit themselves, rather than what is best for the backbone of this province, the farming community,” he said in a statement.
Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities president Ray Orb said farmland ownership is on the agenda for the organization’s district meetings in June.
SARM is not in favour of organizations such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board buying land. The pension plan purchase of 115,000 acres started the current controversy.
“We’re generally in favour of our farmers buying farmland,” Orb said.
“If farmers come in from other provinces, those are the kinds of things we want to see here.”
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has done a member survey on the issue, but president Norm Hall said the results would be shared with Stewart before they are made public.
He has previously said the members are split but definitely don’t like the idea of foreign ownership.
Many speculate that foreign investors already own Saskatchewan land by virtue of Canadian citizens using offshore funds.
“We’ve tried to prove that there are (foreign purchasers) and not been successful at that, but many people suspect that foreign interests have found a way around our act,” Stewart said.
“These are things that are up for question here.”
The consultation will help the government decide if the existing law should be tightened or relaxed. It could even be left the way it is.
Stewart said the government does not have a position on this but wants to understand what the people want.
He agreed there is the potential to send a negative message to investors by tightening rules.
“Farmland is a strategic resource in this province, more so than any other province in the country,” he said.
“Certainly, Saskatchewan has demonstrated that we are open for business and for investment in almost everything in the province.”
Sproule also said farmland is a strategic resource.
“As such, what are the impacts on food security, what are the impacts on water security?” she said.
“I think the government really needs to take a careful look at that in light of this trend of institutional investment and just the way land is being seen as a soft commodity now by investors.”
The NDP wants the Farm Land Security Board to have more teeth to get at the evidence of possible foreign investment through complex financing arrangements.
The survey, along with information about farm ownership legislation, the role of the Farm Land Security Board and the laws in other provinces, can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/farmland.
People can also pick up paper copies of the information and survey at regional agriculture offices or by phoning 866-457-2377.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
