TORONTO – Canada has taken international aid a step too far, says a senior representative of the special crops industry.
“We totally endorse a foreign aid policy where you are helping people grow food to feed their nation,” said Francois Catellier, executive director of the Canadian Special Crops Association.
However, he draws the line when that policy expands to include teaching developing countries how to become better competitors in export markets.
Catellier is referring to a recent Canadian International Development Agency project in Ukraine that was awarded to the Canadian Grain Commission.
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The intent of the $2.5 million project, which wraps up at the end of this year, is to help Ukrainian farmers better compete in international markets by improving the quality of their grain.
“When you’re showing someone how to grade and how to set up systems and strategies for export, you’re basically setting up competition,” Catellier said during an interview at the CSCA’s 19th annual convention.
New competition
Ukraine has become a low-cost competitor to Canada in traditional pea markets such as India and France.
“The last thing we want to be doing is helping them in exporting,” Catellier said.
He is also upset by CIDA’s efforts to stray from its policy of tying donations to Canadian production. Food aid can provide a valuable marketing outlet for his member companies and the association wants CIDA to continue to buy 90 percent of donations from Canadian suppliers.
Catellier passed along the association’s concerns during a brief meeting with international co-operation minister Aileen Carroll, who oversees CIDA.
Catellier told her while the right hand of government is helping Canadian farmers face challenges brought on by international support subsidies and market barriers, the left hand is undermining those activities by creating more competition for Canadian exports.
The Ukrainian project is not an isolated incident. Catellier has witnessed similar aid projects he considers to be undermining Canadian grain export activities.
“It is something that I’ve had on my chest for the last 10 years since I’ve been involved in the industry,” he said.
He vowed the CSCA will continue to lobby the federal government to restrict foreign aid projects to helping Third World farmers feed their own citizens rather than the rest of the world.
