HALIFAX, N.S. – The attempt to create a new “whole farm” income support system is being jeopardized by government tactics, the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said last week.
For months, a committee of bureaucrats and farmers has been trying to design the next generation of safety nets, with a target of implementing the system during the next year.
In a letter to federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale Feb. 27, Jack Wilkinson said the process is flawed because bureaucrats appear to be ignoring farmer advice.
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In a later interview, he said the schedule for creation of an acceptable new safety net based on the Net Income Stabilization Account model is in jeopardy.
“It has been in trouble for some time,” Wilkinson said. “The support levels promised are declining to a point you have to ask if they are adequate. And we think governments are making decisions without letting the farmers around the table in on them.”
Talk behind their back
Members of the CFA safety nets committee met during the federation’s annual gathering Feb. 27 and complained that senior federal and provincial officials appear to have colluded behind the backs of farmers to agree on design features.
The CFA president also noted the Feb. 27 federal budget cut the federal contribution from $850 million promised last year to $600 million projected in three years’ time.
“The value of it just keeps getting whittled down,” he said. “Will there really be enough money there for a meaningful mix of whole farm, crop insurance and companion programs as the ministers promised last December? It doesn’t look promising.”
Goodale had not responded to the complaint at press time.
