Mainstream farm representatives from Saskatchewan and Manitoba last week welcomed the federal-provincial deal to pump $400 million in farm aid into those provinces.
A Saskatchewan Rally Group representative in Ottawa angrily called it an insult and a joke.
While the rest of the country complained about special treatment, the debate in Saskatchewan and Manitoba was over whether it was enough, or even helpful.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool vice-president Marvin Shauf said the announcement “will at least inject some optimism to our farmers.”
Pool president Leroy Larsen said: “I think it will inject much needed support into the farm economy.”
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In the lobby of the House of Commons when it was announced Feb. 24, Stockholm, Sask., farmer Arlynn Kurtz was less impressed.
He represented the Saskatchewan Rally Group in Ottawa that week and heard premier Roy Romanow boast that the total aid to Saskatchewan this year will be close to $1 billion.
“Premier Romanow told us if Saskatchewan doesn’t get a substantial injection of cash, we’re dead,” he said.
“We certainly need $60 an acre times 50 million acres is $3 billion and he sold us out for a billion and some of it is programs already in effect.”
Kurtz suggested Romanow is “playing some kind of a dirty game here and we’re not happy. We’re going to continue to fight for what we need.”
Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers president Don Dewar said the injection of cash will help some farmers seed this spring and will inject some optimism.
Saskatchewan Reform MP Garry Breitkreuz said the announcement was less than it seems.
“It sounds good when they say it all in one breath but there isn’t a whole lot more than there was before, possibly $3 to $4 per acre in new funding,” he said. “That’s not a lot.”
Most farm representatives suggested the value will be $6 per acre.
Saskatchewan New Democrat MP Dennis Gruending said it will help some farmers seed this spring.
The next step is to develop a long-term safety net that helps farmers when there is a need. “There should be something in place that allows us to ride with tough times when they arrive.”
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen said the prairie payout was a “good first step” but it is just a beginning.
