In the face of growing pressure on Ottawa to help farmers who face falling incomes, agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief will host a Nov. 4 meeting of provincial agriculture ministers and national farm leaders to consider options.
He said it will be a chance to talk about “programs and services in place to help them survive these difficult times.”
He also will hear calls for help this winter but the minister so far has refused to commit the government to new spending.
National farm leader Jack Wil-kinson said that is political posturing.
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The president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and co-chair of the government’s advisory committee on safety nets said he believes the government is quietly gearing up to announce farm aid in the form of a national farm disaster program.
He said he expects the announcement no later than the February budget. In the first year, it should pay out half a billion dollars or more to meet the need.
“I am convinced there really is no debate anymore (on the need) but just a bit of political dancing,” said Wilkinson.
“I am convinced that the minister and a number of members of cabinet know very clearly there is going to need to be an infusion of capital to deal with the farm income crisis that is happening in Canada.”
He said the role of the farm lobby is to “create the political atmosphere so the minister can get the money when he asks for it.”
Farm leaders and provincial politicians will get their chance to keep up the pressure next Wednesday when they gather in Ottawa.
Vanclief is expected to argue that income projections are not quite as bad as farm leaders have been saying, that existing safety nets are better than they have been saying and that there is neither money nor political will for expensive farm aid programs.
He will hear reports from across the country about growing fears of an income crisis. And he will hear calls that Ottawa speed up work on a permanent national disaster program that could start to pay out in 1998-99.
The minister said last week he will be talking with other leaders about helping farmers find “long-term answers to current problems.”
Inside the Liberal caucus, some rural MPs have already raised the issue to catch the attention of the prime minister and his cabinet.
Last week, other critics turned up the heat by insisting existing programs are not enough.
The Saskatchewan legislature passed an emergency resolution calling on Ottawa to convince other countries to reduce their subsidies but in the meantime, to help Canadian farmers deal with falling incomes.
In the House of Commons, Reform deputy agriculture critic Garry Breitkreuz insisted the Net Income Stabilization Accounts program would not provide enough help “to pay for the fertilizer and the fuel next spring. Does the minister not recognize that there is a serious farm crisis in incomes that needs to be addressed now and not talked about?”
In Regina, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen joined the chorus. “Without some immediate assistance, we could lose a generation of prairie farmers,” he said.
In Ottawa, Wilkinson was asked how he would respond to arguments that there is no surplus to divide among every needy cause.
“Then print money if you have to,” he said.
