A proposal to withdraw from the federal farm aid program and use the funds to rebate the education portion of property tax has some merit but requires further study, Saskatchewan farm leaders say.
The proposal was put forward by the Saskatchewan Party last week. Leader Elwin Hermanson said the province could withdraw from the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program and use the approximately $133 million remaining to help farmers.
“We could help all Saskatchewan farmers by dramatically reducing their property taxes this year,” Hermanson said.
“At the same time, we would be sending a clear message to Ottawa that AIDA is a failure and a new program is needed.”
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Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen said the idea should be at least considered.
“It would be a way of moving forward very quickly,” he said.
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, also thought the proposal was worth a look. But he expressed concern that the money would go to the landowners, not necessarily the farmers.
“We wanted a payment land-based for the people that were putting the crop in the ground, having the actual expense of farming,” he told the SARM mid-term convention.
“We don’t want to pass up the $133 million, if it’s available, but we do want to explore …what’s the best way of getting that into your jeans.”
Agriculture minister Dwain Lingenfelter said he wants to explore the legalities of withdrawing from AIDA, and he wants the coalition of farm groups that went to Ottawa seeking $1 billion to examine the proposal.
“There are other options that we just want to look at before we rush off with what I think has happened here, with the Sask Party, on the back of a cigarette package has penned some numbers down,” he said. “I think it has got to be a little more accurate than that.”
Meanwhile, both Lingenfelter and premier Roy Romanow last week said the province is looking at the possibility of suing the federal government to recoup money lost when the Western Grain Transportation Act was cancelled in 1995.
Romanow said the province is “exploring every credible, legitimate option” to help farmers.
He said he has asked the province’s constitutional experts for an opinion as quickly as
possible.
“What we want to do is everything we can credibly do to put the pressure on Ottawa to get the money to farmers,” he told reporters. “It’s a live option.”
Larsen was less impressed with that idea. He said a lawsuit, if it did proceed, would take an extremely long time.
