Senior members of the Liberal government were expected to be presented
March 13 with evidence that a growing number of rural Liberal MPs want
more support money for farmers.
And they want it now, not years down the road when details of a new
national risk management and safety net policy are worked out between
Ottawa and the provinces.
Members of the prime minister’s Liberal caucus task force on
agriculture have prepared an interim report that makes strong
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recommendations, a member of the task force said last week.
“The need for more money now will be front and centre.”
If it was translated in time, the report was to be presented at Liberal
caucus March 13, but it was not in time for Western Producer deadlines.
Central to the argument will be a recent Statistics Canada report that
during the past three years, the agriculture sector has lost 26 percent
of its full-time jobs.
In December 2001, there were 112,000 fewer people than in December 1998
who claimed agriculture as their main income source.
“It’s the group in the middle, $100,000 to $500,000 revenue, that I’m
really worried about,” Liberal rural caucus chair Murray Calder said
March 8.
“Those are the people we are losing. I’m afraid their numbers will be
halved if we don’t do something.”
Prince Edward Island Liberal MP and task force member Wayne Easter said
the agriculture employment numbers reflect the lack of profitability in
many sectors of agriculture.
“But it’s deeper than that,” said the former National Farmers Union
president and persistent critic of Agriculture Canada. “I don’t think
people in this town (Ottawa) generally realize how it hurts when you
pick up the newspaper, see that farm incomes are supposed to be up and
you’re going broke.”
In early March in Halifax, task force chair Bob Speller promised
members of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture the interim report
would recommend more help for farmers.
As rural Liberals get restless, the farm community also is turning the
heat up on government, which has said new money will be available only
when a long-term safety net deal is worked out with the provinces.
“We need more money in the interim so our safety net committee has to
work on two fronts,” Ontario Federation of Agriculture president and
CFA board member Jack Wilkinson said. “We need a well-funded long term
and we need short-term top-up until the long-term program is here and
properly funded.”
Easter said he challenges the view that more money will be available
only when a long-term deal is signed.
“I have talked to him many times and I think the minister is willing to
do a fair bit to assist the industry if the department of agriculture
would propose something,” he said.
“If the agriculture department doesn’t ask for anything, what is the
minister of finance supposed to do?”
