OTTAWA (Staff) – The auditor general wants Agriculture Canada to be more aggressive in its cost recovery efforts.
In a report tabled in the House of Commons last week, Denis Desautels said the department is now aiming to recover about 20 percent of what it costs to provide services to the farm and food sectors.
“We believe that to ensure equity and fairness, more of the cost-sharing burden should be borne by industry where public good is minimal,” said the report.
The department’s three-year phased introduction of user fees, along with attempts to reduce or avoid costs, is simply a start, according to Desautels.
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“We think the department needs to go even further and develop a long-term plan for industry to pay a share of the costs of services that is commensurate with the degree of private benefit derived.”
Agriculture Canada officials told the auditors that beginning next year, they will be trying to find a better way of deciding the value of the private benefit clients receive.
But they also cautioned that the amount recovered is influenced by how much the food industry can bear, particularly those businesses which must compete in foreign markets.
It is a point agriculture minister Ralph Goodale reinforced later when he was questioned on the cost recovery issue by members of the Commons agriculture committee.
He said Canadian food and farm businesses would not agree with Desautels’ conclusion that they are being charged too little.
“Perhaps from time to time, he should speak to some of our clientele.”
When asked how far the department can go, Goodale said that depends on the cost recovery plans of competitor countries.
“While I hear the argument being made by the auditor general that we should go further faster, I believe the approach we are taking is balanced and reasonable,” he said.
