Political sniping increased last week over the issue of farm income disaster assistance for farmers.
The target for much of that sniping was federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief. He was described by some as being out of touch with the difficulties unfolding in the farm community this year.
Manitoba premier Gary Filmon suggested Vanclief is not taking the concerns of western Canadian farmers seriously. The federal minister fails to understand or refuses to recognize “the impending economic disaster” in southern Manitoba, Filmon said.
The Manitoba and Saskatchewan premiers want Ottawa to take part in a payment on acres too wet to seed this year. They also want the federal government to help compensate farmers for lost input costs and for the expense of maintaining fields that could not be seeded.
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“We are already starting to see the effects of this economic disaster in our farm communities,” Filmon said.
Manitoba’s Liberal leader tried to deflect some of the criticism fired at Vanclief.
Last week, the Liberals blocked a resolution in the Manitoba legislature asking Ottawa to deliver more financial help. The provincial Tories and New Democrats responded by accusing provincial leader Jon Gerrard of trying to shield his Liberal friends in Ottawa.
In an interview, Gerrard said his party blocked the resolution because it fell short of what Manitoba farmers need: “Our view was that this was just not enough.”
The Manitoba Liberals want changes made to AIDA to allow a $25-per-acre advance to farmers flooded this spring. Gerrard said retroactive crop insurance coverage could yield another $25 an acre, giving affected farmers a total of $50 per acre.
Gerrard described changes to the Net Income Stabilization Account and the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program as a “step forward” in helping farmers deal with a disastrous spring.
Vanclief announced those changes June 21 during brief stops at Estevan, Sask., and Brandon, Man. NISA was made more flexible and farmers who think they will qualify for 1999 AIDA payments were told they can apply for an advance. The federal government hopes to have application forms available Sept. 1.
Ottawa continues to look at other options.
Vanclief’s office said Monday that if Manitoba paid farmers $25 an acre under the AIDA program, Ottawa would cover 60 percent of the costs.
However, Manitoba would pay the full shot for any farmer who received the payment but was not eligible under AIDA guidelines.
Meanwhile, Keystone Agricultural Producers and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities continue to lobby for $50 per unseeded acre.
The unseeded acres represent a disaster for all of Manitoba, not just agriculture, said KAP president Don Dewar. He was among those accusing Vanclief of failing to grasp the problem farmers now face.
“The minister does not seem to realize that this is a disaster, an act of God that AIDA simply cannot address adequately because of its shortfalls.”
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said the outlook for farmers was grim even before spring seeding began. The flooding compounded the problem, he said, noting that 50 RMs in Saskatchewan have declared themselves a
disaster area.
“She’s a pretty bleak outlook. We have producers without one seed in the ground through no fault of their own.”
