WINNIPEG – East met West at the annual meeting of Prairie Pools Inc., last week. And predictably, a few sparks flew as the two rubbed elbows and discussed the Western Grain Transportation Act.
Patrice DubŽ, of the Quebec farmers’ lobby group l’Union des Producteurs Agricoles, wants a share if the federal government gives western farmers a buyout.
Terry Daynard says corn producers in his Ontario association don’t want any money, and can’t wait until the Crow flies away forever.
DubŽ drew parallels between the history of the Crow rate issue in the West and constitutional issues in Quebec.
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Both are coming to a head this year. But while he said his organization will take neither a ‘oui’ nor ‘non’ stance on the referendum, he believes it will take a firm position on the WGTA method-of-payment question.
DubŽ said a buyout, proposed by provincial agriculture ministers and various farm groups, would change the program from a transportation subsidy to a more general agricultural subsidy.
Ontario’s position
“It’s like a new program,” he said. “It could be acceptable … to have a buyout for Western Canada, but to add something for our province.
“The idea is not to take money out of Western Canada,” DubŽ said. “The idea is to be fair for Quebec farmers and fair for Quebec taxpayers … I’m sure that other regions too would be happy to have their share of the money.”
Daynard said Ontario corn producers shouldn’t be included in that assumption. He said he doesn’t care what happens to the WGTA money, as long as the subsidy is lifted, and he is surprised at Quebec’s position.
“The key issue for us is the portion that is used to subsidize the shipping of grain into Eastern Canada and directly in competition with our producers,” he said, adding producers look forward to competing with non-WGTA feed grains.
“We tend to sometimes call that (WGTA) as being Western Canada’s EEP program.”
Daynard said the effect of the subsidy has been particularly noticeable during the past three crop years.
