With a new Liberal government in place, Canadian farm groups have renewed their campaign to throw restraints on user fee increases.
A coalition of lobby groups representing almost all farmers has written to agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief to plead for a halt to fee-for-service increases until a promised government review of their collective impact has been finished.
“We … ask you to demonstrate your commitment to the work and final results of the department and the sector representatives by delaying the implementation of any increases in user fees while the analysis is under way,” they wrote in late October.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The letter was signed by groups as diverse as the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the meat packer lobby to Prairie Pools Inc., Chicken Farmers of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
The letter came after a September announcement by Agriculture Canada that in the new year, user fees in the seeds trade, poultry plants and a number of other areas will swell.
The farm groups argue more user fee increases hinder their ability to compete with Americans, who do not face the same costs.
Opposition MPs also received a copy and when officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency appeared before the House of Commons agriculture committee, they were grilled on the impact of user fee increases.
President Art Olson said there is a commitment to hold off on higher user fees until after 2000. The increases officially announced in September already had been planned and announced.
He said the agency is careful that the user fees it charges do not make Canadian seed or meat plants less competitive than their American counterparts.
He suggested agriculture sector lobbyists were “cherry picking” particular cases in which Canadian fees look bad, without considering the full industry picture.
Fees blamed
Some MPs clearly were skeptical.
New Democrat critic Dick Proctor said the Canadian Pork Council provides evidence that live hog exports are increasing far more quickly than processed pork.
They argue it is because of high fees for processors in Canada.
Nova Scotia Conservative MP and Christmas tree grower Gerald Keddy had another example.
He said Christmas tree producers who once paid $1,200 in fees now pay $12,000.
“We don’t mind seeing some cost recovery but we don’t want to see producers pay all of it or 30 percent or 50 percent,” he said.
