SASKATOON — Any cuts in federal agriculture spending should take into account sacrifices already made by farmers, the federal government has been told.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool vice-president Barry Senft took that message to a Jan. 29 meeting in Calgary. The pre-budget consultation was one of a series put on by finance minister Paul Martin to look for ideas on how to attack the federal government’s $46 billion deficit.
Senft said he rejected the suggestion that all sectors of the economy should be subjected to equal, across-the-board spending cuts, since some groups in society, including farmers, have tightened their belts considerably in recent years.
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“It may not be fair to use 1994 as the bench mark and just cut from there,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “Some have taken significant cuts already while others have escaped.”
Agriculture has potential
He also argued that agriculture has the potential to contribute substantial revenues to federal coffers, especially if the new world trade deal results in better overseas sales of farm commodities.
“We feel spending on agriculture will add significantly to the economy’s growth potential,” he said.
Another participant in the conference said he was disappointed at how little attention was devoted to agriculture by the 100 participants attending the session.
“I was disappointed with the amount of time that agriculture got,” said Hubert Esquirol, president of Western Canadian Wheat Growers.
He had hoped to talk in detail about issues like grain transportation subsidies, investment tax credits and farm safety nets, but that never happened.
“The problem is when you’re in a workshop of 30 people, it’s all Greek to 29 of them,” he said.
But he added the short shrift given agriculture wasn’t all that surprising given that the sector accounts for about $3 billion out of total federal spending of $122 billion.
