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TROIS RIVIERES, Que. – Even as lobbyists call for more farm safety net funding, governments are eyeing the existing $1 billion pot as a possible target for cuts, federal officials confirmed last week.
In Ottawa, finance department officials are beginning the search for cuts which they can take into their 1998 budget to help get the $16 billion deficit down toward zero.
One finance department chart prepared for budget discussions identifies “subsidies to business,” a favorite target.
The largest item on it is $600 million that Ottawa has committed to farm safety net funding.
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“That is a real signal that there could be pressure on that funding,” an Agriculture Canada official said last week.
Meanwhile, some provincial governments looking at deficit cutting also are signaling that their 40 percent share of farm safety net funding is under review.
If a province cuts its share, Ottawa could be tempted to do the same to maintain the 60:40 cost-sharing proportion.
“I just think there is pressure on these funds that we should be aware of,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the 1995 budget, which slashed the Crow Benefit grain transportation subsidy, finance minister Paul Martin also cut the federal contribution to safety net funding to $600 million from $850 million.
Deputy finance minister Frank Claydon has insisted since then that the era of big cuts are over and agriculture can expect a period of funding stability.
No hint of more cuts
Last week, in an interview during the federal-provincial agriculture ministers meeting in Trois Rivieres, Que., he said he has had no indication finance is targeting agriculture again in the next round of budget cutting. He said existing funding levels would be defended in bureaucratic circles.
“We feel we have made our contribution,” said Claydon. “We think what we have left now in the budget is a reasonable balance and what we have in safety nets is an appropriate amount.”
Jack Wilkinson, of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Canada’s top farm lobby group, insists governments should consider enhancing farm safety net spending, rather than trimming it.
“It is a fundamental question, as governments reconsider safety nets and budget surpluses loom, that maybe they should consider if it is enough,” he said in Trois Rivieres after making a safety net presentation to ministers.
“If we are going to have a more acceptable system for farmers, we have to look at whether it is adequate for what is expected of it,” he said. “Hopefully, at least, governments will be more willing to listen and less inclined to say that anything which costs more money is absolutely off the table.”
