Whether and when Canada’s grains and oilseeds producers see any of the $755 million in ad hoc help announced last week by agriculture minister Andy Mitchell may depend on how quickly the bureaucrats can figure out how to spend it.
When he announced the money Nov. 21, hours after cabinet approval, Mitchell said he hopes the interim cheques can flow within eight weeks, which would put it around the Jan. 23 election.
Later, Danny Foster, the senior Agriculture Canada official in charge of how to design the program based on historic eligible net sales that allows new farmers a piece of the benefit, said it could take several weeks longer at least.
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Timing is crucial because the Conservatives have signaled that if they take government after Jan. 23, they may not honour Mitchell’s announcement if the money is not flowing already.
“There’s no party in the country that has done more to help farmers, no party that has raised more issues related to agriculture,” deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay told reporters Nov. 24. “We’re going to do everything in our power when we become government of Canada to address those concerns. But are we going to follow this Liberal spending plan line by line? Absolutely not, because it’s irresponsible, it’s not costed.”
He said a Conservative government would honour contracts “but we are not going to be tied to this spending spree by this irresponsible finance minister Elf Goodale as he sprinkles bags of money under the Christmas tree,” he said referring to federal finance minister Ralph Goodale.
Mitchell said he was responding to a farmer plea for help in the face of higher costs and low prices. The real long-term answer is in a subsidy reducing and trade liberalizing World Trade Organization deal.
“This funding provides stability at a critical time as they struggle to deal with pressures beyond their control,” said the minister.
He noted that $439 million of a spring aid package was sent to grains and oilseeds producers as well and he predicted total government ad hoc and program payments this year will hit a record $6 billion.
“We are there for farmers.”
The net benefit from last week’s announcement would be $600 million once offsets to Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization payments are discounted. The money, distributed through a per-farm eligible net sales calculation updated to 2004, would flow to grains, oilseeds, lentil, mustard and bean producers.
The Prairies would receive 77 percent of the payout – $292.7 million in Saskatchewan, $199.9 million in Alberta and $91.5 million in Manitoba – and that region produced much of what little praise there was.
Conservative agriculture critic Diane Finley said it was little more than a “death bed repentance” that had no detail or promise of delivery.
And so it went for the last ad hoc farm payment announced by Paul Martin’s tottering government. It faced the same fate as many earlier Liberal bailout announcements – tepid praise in a few quarters, broad condemnation in many others and some hostility from the provinces.
The closest to all-out praise came from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, which thanked Ottawa for recognizing the problem in grains and oilseeds even as it complained other sectors are hurting as well.
“Virtually all of agriculture is in need and we need to ensure we are supporting agriculture as a whole.”
In Ontario, where dozens of rural seats are up for grabs in the election, the reaction was scathing.
Provincial farm groups have been calling for $300 million a year for three years until a new, better Agricultural Policy Framework is written. Instead, it would receive a one-time $123 million share of Mitchell’s announced package.
“Ontario farmers from all sectors had three very clear solutions to the farm income crisis and we presented them to the federal government,” Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett said. “The federal Liberals claim to be looking for solutions but have not met a single one of those requests.”
Meanwhile, provincial agriculture ministers meeting in Regina last week said they were happy to see the federal dollars but had no plan to succumb to farmer pressure for top-up dollars to adhere to a 60-40 cost-sharing formula.
“This payment is a unilateral federal payment,” said Saskatchewan’s Mark Wartman. “(There was) no agreement, no consultation of any kind.”
Added Alberta’s Doug Horner: “We indicated to the federal government some time ago that without proper consultation and without proper notification, it is extremely difficult for any of the provinces to partner in something we don’t get any notice of at all. We will not be looking to add dollars.”
