The botched rules of the last federal farm aid program undermined Ottawa’s genuine attempt to help farmers caught in an income crisis, federal finance minister Paul Martin conceded during the weekend.
“We do care very much about our farmers and everybody does understand the tragedy that has happened in a number of those communities,” Martin said March 5 as he defended his new budget during a CBC Radio phone-in show.
“When the crisis hit, the government did come up with a program and the problem was the delivery mechanism,” said Martin. “It was a mistake in the mechanism. It certainly wasn’t a mistake in the desire.”
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He said agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief “to his credit” has admitted the program was flawed and is trying to correct it.
A Saskatoon caller argued that by offering little support to farmers, the prime minister and finance minister “have what appears to be contempt for these salt-of-the-earth producers.”
Martin disagreed. He noted that Ottawa has announced $2 billion in farm aid during the past two years.
“It isn’t fair to say the government has done nothing. Do I wish we could do more? Every single caller today is going to say ‘I wish you could’ and I’m going to say ‘yes, I wish I had the money’.”
Meanwhile, although the wording was vague and the size of the commitment unclear, federal government watchers last week said they saw what they consider a long-term farm aid commitment from Martin in the Feb. 28 budget.
In recent years, Vanclief has switched from talking about developing a long-term permanent farm aid program to working with provinces on designing the rules for two-year temporary programs.
The switched emphasis from a permanent and predictable program to short-term plans made the Canadian Federation of Agriculture uneasy.
“It is a serious concern,” CFA executive director Sally Rutherford said last week.
But she said Vanclief has asked the safety nets advisory committee to look at rules for a long-term plan.
And while Martin only makes two-year spending commitments, he did say in budget papers that if there is a need in 2002 when the next disaster program expires, “additional funding may be considered for that year” as long as rules had been worked out with provinces.
In his budget speech, Martin said the farm crisis requires “real and better short and long-term solutions.”
Vanclief said last week farmers should never wonder if Ottawa will support them. He said Ottawa has offered more aid than many in the industry had asked for two years ago.
– WILSON
