Canadian farm leaders have appealed to the House of Commons finance committee to recommend that the next federal budget expected in February include key agricultural provisions.
During a committee meeting in Montreal as part of pre-budget hearings, MPs heard a plea from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture asking that the government set up a system of tax breaks for investors in co-operatives.
The Co-operative Investment Plan has been in Quebec for years, attracting tens of millions of dollars in investment that offers a tax saving. Co-operatives typically have difficulty attracting equity investment.
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CFA vice-president Ron Bonnett told MPs Dec. 7 it is estimated that no more than $20 million in lost tax revenue would encourage several hundred million dollars worth of investment in rural co-ops across the country.
The finance committee embraced the idea two years ago but it has not yet made it into a federal budget as government policy. Bonnett also urged the committee to recommend that Ottawa provide support to the struggling hog industry.
He also tried to convince the committee to recommend that the federal government end its resistance to federal financial support for province-specific companion programs.
Canadian Egg Marketing Agency vice-chair Peter Clarke appeared at the same committee hearing to urge MPs to recommend that government increase the compensation program for producers forced to destroy birds because of avian influenza.
Clarke also asked the finance committee to inject itself into negotiations for new national farm support programs by recommending that new production insurance programs be created to cover all livestock and all risks.
Federal and provincial negotiators have been promising for several years to expand the crop insurance model into livestock but details have yet to be worked out.
Clarke said the committee should recommend to the Conservative government that it support supply management domestically and internationally.
“CEMA encourages the committee to carefully consider how government can support successful agriculture models such as supply management,” he said.
“The agriculture industry is uniquely positioned in that it delivers on the necessary public good of food security and food safety while at the same time serving as an economic backbone of rural Canada.”
He said the alternative to stable pricing under supply management is market instability and uncertainty for poultry and dairy farmers. Like other parts of the agricultural industry, they soon would be making demands on the federal treasury for support when incomes fall.
