Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark went deep into the unrest in southwestern Ontario farm country last week to promise more and faster farm aid.
At an Oct. 26 speech in Woodstock, the Tory leader offered some details of the party’s agricultural safety net promise.
He said the new program, based loosely on the cost of production and target price rules of the Gross Revenue Insurance Plan, would add close to $1.7 billion to farm safety net spending over the next five years.
But the yearly $300 million in aid would be far short of the $1.5 billion nationally and $300 million in Ontario that has been demanded by Ontario farm groups and supported by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
“A Progressive Conservative government would establish a comprehensive, national safety net program to be called … you’ll like the acronym … to be called FAST, the Federal Agricultural Stabilization Transfer,” Clark said with a chuckle.
“One thing that can be said about the actions of the Liberal government is that they were never fast.”
The precise details of the Conservative proposal on how to rewrite farm safety net programs have not been released, but the party platform said it would be a combination of revenue income stabilization and natural disaster compensation.
According to the calculations released by the party to shore up the credibility of its platform promises to sharply cut taxes, increase spending and pay down the debt, the five-year FAST budget would be $1.665 billion in additional spending.
The party also promised to inject an additional $225 million over five years into research and development for agriculture and food biotechnology.
It projected savings of $200 million over five years by killing the national gun registration system.
Clark used his Woodstock appearance to criticize the agricultural policies of the main rival parties.
He said the government’s mini-budget released on the eve of the election call contained nothing for farmers.
“There was not one new cent earmarked for agriculture in the budget.”
Meanwhile, he said vague promises by the Canadian Alliance of support for farmers mean little.
Clark said the Conservatives are the only party that will make agricultural issues a priority during the campaign leading to the Nov. 27 federal election.
He said the root of the Canadian farm crisis is high European and American farm subsidies, which the Liberal government has done little to counteract.
“For every dollar spent on farm support in Canada, the Americans spend twice that amount.”
