OTTAWA – Ten years and 20 million birds later, an ambitious North American Waterfowl Management Plan was hailed by its promoters last week as a great success.
In a statement issued on behalf of the three-country agreement, Rich Goulden of the Prairie Habitat Joint Venture said there are 20 million more migratory birds in North America than there were when it was signed May 14, 1986.
He said farmers, conservation groups, landowners and governments all should share the credit.
But the work must continue. “We know that this progress can be offset by climatic conditions, especially long droughts.”
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The 1995 count concluded there are 77 million migratory waterfowl on the continent now, still almost 10 million fewer than in 1979.
Adaptation money
The federal government will send $40 million in agriculture adaptation funding to Quebec over the next three years.
Last week, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale sent the first $10 million installment – $6.7 million to a producer-led agricultural development council and $3.3 million to a processor council.
An announcement of the transfer included a wish by Union des Producteur Agricoles president Laurent Pellerin that the federal money will help offset the effects of the “restrictive measures” taken by Ottawa in recent years.
CIDA serving Quebec?
The Canadian International Development Agency looks more like a regional development agency for Quebec than a real foreign policy tool, a Saskatchewan Reform MP charged last week.
Lee Morrison said that 71 percent of the dollar value of the largest 20 service contracts signed by CIDA last year went to Quebec firms.
As well, two Quebec universities received more than $42 million last year for bilateral programs.
“Is CIDA still an international development agency or has it become a regional development agency to buy Liberal votes in Quebec?” he asked in the Commons.
Morrison said eight of 12 large agricultural development contracts went to Quebec firms. “The last time I looked, there was some agricultural expertise in Ontario and Western Canada.”
He did not receive a detailed government defence, although foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy said the university grants could be explained by the fact that Canada works with French-speaking countries that are some of the poorest in the world.
