A coalition of social activists which prepares an annual ‘alternative federal budget” would like to see Ottawa spend more money on agriculture.
In the face of a real federal budget this week, the coalition last week issued its proposals to argue that there is an alternative to Liberal government spending cuts.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and allies in student and anti-poverty groups said its alternative was a ‘jobs budget’.
Its farm ally has been the National Farmers Union.
It said it offered a different approach to financial policy, including spending to create almost one million more jobs over the next five years than the government is projecting. Increased agricultural spending is part of it.
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The coalition suggested the core of federal agriculture policy should be a family farm support program funded by government and farmer contributions.
It would get rid of funding for the Gross Revenue Insurance Plan and the Net Income Stabilization Account, rolling the $445 million budgeted last year for GRIP and NISA into a new fund with an additional $300 million available in each of the next two years.
The resulting fund would offer support to farm families “based on cost of production and capped so as to benefit mainly small farms,” says the budget proposal.
The agriculture research budget also would have a $50 million injection of funds.
“And the operations of the department will be recast to better encourage balanced rural development and sustainable farming systems,” said the alternate budget proposal. “Other spending will rise by three percent in 1998-99.”
