Federal finance minister Ralph Goodale had barely finished telling a parliamentary committee that this year’s federal surplus will be almost $9 billion instead of the forecast $4 billion when he asked for some advice on what to do with the windfall.
“How should the government allocate any available surplus among such important but competing priorities as economic and social programs, tax cuts and debt reduction?” Goodale asked the House of Commons finance committee Nov. 16.
Lines immediately began forming on the right and on the left to offer advice about how agriculture could benefit.
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Conservative senator Len Gustafson told agriculture minister Andy Mitchell that farmers should be high on the priority list. Prairie grain farmers, facing low prices and a frost-damaged crop in many areas, are in the worst crisis in a half-century, he said when the minister appeared Nov. 16 before the Senate agriculture committee.
“I would suggest that of the surplus $9 billion, $3 billion will have to be thrown in to save these farmers or tell them to quit and get out,” said the Saskatchewan senator and former MP.
Two days later at the Commons agriculture committee, New Democrat Charlie Angus had another suggestion. The federal government should find money to invest directly in new beef packing plants, rather than depend on a loan loss reserve to encourage private funding in new plants, the Ontario MP said.
“Isn’t it time to put emergency funding into this to get some capacity up and running?” he asked Mitchell.
Mitchell did not endorse either of the proposals but said it cannot be a negative for agriculture that a finance minister who is a former agriculture minister and a Saskatchewan MP has some unexpected billions to spend.
“Mr. Goodale has a very good understanding of the agricultural industry,” Mitchell said. “He has indicated he understands the industry and it’s a positive that we have somebody in that job that has that background.”
