Prairie and Ontario farmers lobbying this winter for increased government support normally demand equity with what is available to farmers in the United States.
But increasingly, they also are turning their eyes to Quebec, where a 21-year-old support program that combines cost of production and a portion of the industrial wage have helped insulate farm incomes from world fluctuations and low commodity prices.
“We’re looking for parity with American subsidies but we also are interested in the Quebec program,” said Milestone, Sask., farmer Bob Thomas on Jan. 12.
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He is an organizer of a farmer rally that will take place on Parliament Hill Jan. 29 when the government opens. Participants will demand better national farm supports.
Under the Quebec support program, the price for wheat last year was $6.72 per bushel compared to a prairie initial price of just over $4 before deductions and final payments.
Part of the disparity in provincial support levels comes from the fact that most Quebec commodities are not directly enrolled in the Net Income Stabilization Account program.
Instead, Ottawa pays what would be its matching payment to farmer accounts directly to the provincial government, which then pays money out through the provincial program.
Still, the disparity in program payments as recorded recently in a Statistics Canada report is startling.
Average Quebec hog farms in 1999 received more than $92,000 in program payments, compared to $26,000 in Manitoba, less than $12,000 in Saskatchewan and less than $26,000 in Alberta.
For beef farmers, the average program payment in Quebec was $14,500 compared to less than $4,000 in Manitoba and less than $3,000 in Saskatchewan and Alberta – much of that because of program payments for grain or other crop grown on the farm.-20-
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For grain farms, the average program payment in Quebec in 1999 was almost $32,000 compared to just over $9,000 in Manitoba and $6,500 in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Last year at a parliamentary committee, University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Hartley Furtan told Mps that most Canadian governments do not have a clear plan for how to save and support family farmers.
Bloc Québecois MP Hélene Alarie, since defeated, begged to differ.
The former deputy agriculture minister in Quebec said her province has decided to support its farmers. While most provinces contribute 40 cents for every 60 federal cents, sometimes grudgingly, Quebec spends $1.60 for every $1 in federal funds.
