Hatchers hit with service charge
OTTAWA (Staff) – Yet another Canadian agricultural sector has been hit with new government cost-recovery fees.
This time, it is the hatchery industry.
Last week, Agriculture Canada announced a variety of fees for services the government provides to the industry.
Effective April 10, hatchery operators had to start paying a range of new fees, including:
- $160 to consider a request to make changes to a hatchery building or to consider an application for a quality assurance accreditation.
Read Also
Canola support gets mixed response
A series of canola industry support measures announced by the federal government are being met with mixed reviews.
- $320 for consideration of an application to operate a hatchery.
There would be annual fees for inspection and a charge of $64 per hour if a federal inspector has to train hatchery employees to take biological samples.
The department also announced fees for people, companies or carriers bringing restricted commodities such as animal products, animal food or garbage into the country.
Funds distributed
The federal government is expanding its campaign of enlisting farm organizations to distribute government funds or programs to their members.
Last week, it announced that Quebec’s $6 million share of compensation for the end of the feed freight assistance program will be distributed by the farmer-run Quebec Agricultural Development Council.
It was organized by farm groups led by the Union des Producteurs Agricoles to receive the federal money and to decide how it should be spent. Last week, the first $2 million was handed over.
In Ontario, a similar farmer-organized development council is handling distribution of federal transition funds.
GST replacement costly
Even as the federal government steps up its efforts to reform the Goods and Services Tax with a new, broader tax, farm groups are keeping a wary eye on the effort.
A number of farm groups have opposed the end of the GST if it means that a replacement tax would be extended to an expanded base of goods and services, including food.
Last month, the Ontario Corn Growers Association joined the list, approving a resolution at its annual meeting asking that the GST “not be replaced by another tax.”
Ottawa has been trying to enlist provincial support for a national sales tax combining federal and provincial taxes in one broadly-applied tax.
In the last election campaign, the Liberals promised to get rid of the controversial GST.
