OTTAWA (Staff) – A Commons committee will begin public hearings April 25 on the implications of the loss of the Crow Benefit subsidy.
After hours of negotiation, the government last week relented to pressure from rural-based MPs and approved creation of a committee on changes to the Western Grain Transportation Act.
However, the committee will not be allowed to become a forum for those disgruntled about the loss of the $560 million grain freight subsidy.
Under the committee’s mandate, witnesses will have to take the loss of the Crow Benefit as a given and talk about how it will change prairie agriculture.
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The finance committee will be the focus for anyone wishing to comment on the government decision.
The finance department and some Liberals tried to derail the WGTA committee, arguing that all the debate should be channeled through the finance committee.
In part, the reluctance came from concerns that the government could lose control of the debate if an agriculture-based committee was inviting comment. It is a finance bill and should be considered by the finance committee.
Some Liberals also expressed private concerns that a WGTA committee might simply become a focus for opposition to the loss of the Crow Benefit at a time when the Liberals will be fighting or preparing to fight several western provincial elections.
Cornerstone lost
In the end, approval for the second committee was given, but its leash was shortened.
Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter will chair the committee. It will begin hearings with an April 25 appearance by agriculture minister Ralph Goodale.
“With the loss of the Crow Benefit, western agriculture has lost the cornerstone of its foundation,” Easter said. “We have to consider the implications of that and figure out how to build a new foundation.”
“I will be encouraging farm groups with concerns about the decision to go before the finance committee,” he said.
