Saskatchewan farmers don’t want to wait a full year for the province to fund its share of 2004 farm safety net claims.
“We need our Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program funding immediately,” Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities delegate Arlynn Kurtz told premier Lorne Calvert during a bear-pit session at the association’s annual convention.
With Agriculture Canada projecting 2005 realized net income of minus $486 million for the province’s producers, this is not the time to be bickering with Ottawa over who pays what, he said.
Calvert said the province is reluctant to oblige because it feels the 60-40 federal-provincial cost sharing for the CAIS program is grossly unfair.
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In his address to SARM delegates, the premier said it cost each Saskatchewan taxpayer $199 to fund the 2003 CAIS claims, which is 10 times more than the federal safety net program cost any other Canadian taxpayer.
“More than any other province in Canada by a country mile, Saskatchewan taxpayers contribute the highest level of per capita support to the agricultural and food sector,” said the premier, adding it is not fair or sustainable for a province with three percent of the population to continue supporting 45 percent of the country’s arable land.
Saskatchewan has proposed a Canadian Agricultural Equity Program that would cap the provincial share of CAIS spending at three times the national average cost. However the federal government doesn’t appear interested in that idea.
“That this issue was not addressed, not even mentioned, in the most recent federal budget led me to express significant disappointment in that budget,” said Calvert.
Kurtz understands Calvert’s objections to the funding formula but pointed out the province signed onto CAIS and must live up to its obligations.
Saskatchewan didn’t fully fund its share of the 2003 CAIS program until Dec. 22, 2004, when it kicked $110 million into the program, bringing its total commitment up to $209 million.
In the meantime, the province’s farmers were paying interest on delinquent loans stemming back to the 2003 crop year, said Kurtz.
“I mean (Calvert) totally doesn’t understand. He has to realize there is a year lag in there and it really causes a problem when he delays (payment.)”
SARM president Neal Hardy said it is ridiculous that two years into the five-year safety net program, Saskatchewan is still trying to renegotiate the terms of the deal, especially at a time when its oil and gas revenues are up and the province just received a $367 million equalization payment adjustment from Ottawa.
“They can afford to pay it,” said Hardy, who believes it is highly improbable the federal government will consider changing the 60-40 formula before the CAIS program expires.
Federal finance minister Ralph Goodale said what Saskatchewan is proposing is not a simple one-on-one negotiation. It involves 10 provinces, three territories and the federal government.
“The 60-40 principle has been very well established. It is something the government of Canada can always examine but it has to be in the context of a deal where there are 14 different players that have to come together.”
The 14 signatories have already agreed that farmers will no longer be required to make a deposit by March 31 to participate in the CAIS program.
Governments are exploring other ways to ensure producer buy-in to the program, something akin to an insurance deductible, said Goodale.
