Prairie farmers who try to win more aid money by criticizing supply management and its advantage to eastern farmers are spreading misinformation, says the federal agriculture minister.
“It disappoints me to see it,” Lyle Vanclief said. “Supply management has very little support from governments. There’s support from consumers.”
Manitoba farmers, supported by Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments, have been complaining that while Ottawa slashes subsidies to prairie farmers, it has left intact the subsidies flowing to eastern Canadian farmers through government-supported supply management.
“There have been some very, very misleading statements made out of the West about the support dairy farmers have,” said Vanclief. “It is misleading and unfair.”
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He said it is consumers rather than government who support supply-managed farmers.
And when the Crow rate subsidy was killed, so was the feed freight assistance program for eastern farmers.
He said emergency aid programs recognize that prairie farmers are more vulnerable to market price fluctuations than are supply management farmers.
That is why most emergency funds in the past two years have been diverted to Western Canada where the need is greatest.
Leaders of supply-managed sectors say pointing fingers weakens the national farm lobby.
– WILSON
