OTTAWA – Amidst cries for the abolition of the Farm Credit Corporation and the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, the government is planning to expand the roles of both organizations.
“I think there are very interesting and innovative roles organizations like the FCC and others can play in rural development,” Canadian agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said in a recent interview.
He is considering expanding the mandate of the FCC to allow it to loan money to processors or other value-added companies that locate in small towns or rural areas.
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It could also become a partner with credit unions or other private lenders in developing programs to finance investment in rural areas, Goodale said.
“I see the FCC playing an increasingly important role here,” the minister said.
And, he said, the PFRA can be a tool in upgrading the infrastructure of small towns.
He noted Reform agriculture critic Allan Kerpan (Moose Jaw-Lake Centre) has suggested that both federal agencies be abolished.
“They are wrong again,” he said.
Goodale told a parliamentary committee Sept. 29 that his government plans a concerted effort to revive rural areas, by improving infrastructure, by offering training and by attracting investment for value-added processing of agricultural production.
However, Goodale said there is no pot of new federal money to invest in rural Canada.
“I am reviewing programs of the last government from top to bottom to see if some of that funding can be reshuffled,” he said. “It’s obviously not going to be new money. There is none.”
