While agriculture contributes more to Canada’s national economy than
the average among industrialized nations, government support for the
sector is among the lowest in the developed world and falling further
behind, according to a report prepared for government MPs.
The report by British Columbia agrologist and activist Wendy Holm was
presented late last year to the prime minister’s Liberal task force on
agriculture. It helped influence the task force conclusion that the
government must become more supportive.
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Holm said that agriculture’s contribution to the gross domestic product
– 2.2 percent – is slightly higher than the average in other developed
countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Yet Canada’s 1998-2000 support for agriculture, at 0.77 percent of the
GDP, is third lowest.
“In only two countries, New Zealand and Australia, is total support for
agriculture as a percentage of GDP lower than in Canada,” she wrote in
a report presented to Liberal MPs on behalf of B.C. Tree Fruits.
The comparison with the United States is striking, especially since the
numbers pre-date the latest U.S. farm bill with its promise of higher
subsidies for the next six years.
During the 1990s, per capita support for Canadian farmers, including
the benefits of supply management price setting, fell 38 percent while
spending in the U.S. increased 22 percent, according to her analysis of
OECD reports.
“Canadian farmers now receive 55 percent lower levels of per capita
support than do their American counterparts.”
And during the decade, the level of Canadian farm support as a
percentage of gross farm receipts fell 45 percent compared to an eight
percent drop in the U.S.
The message clearly impressed MPs on the Liberal task force.
“Canada’s level of farm support, as a percentage of gross domestic
product, lags behind all OECD countries except Australia and New
Zealand,” they wrote in an April interim report.
