HALIFAX – Alberta agriculture minister Shirley McClellan stood in the
historic Red Chamber of the Nova Scotia legislature, an early cradle of
Canadian responsible government, and said she did it for her farmers.
McClellan was one of six provincial ministers to join the federal
government June 27 in signing the legal text of a new long-term
agriculture policy for Canada.
It commits Ottawa to spending $5.2 billion over six years, with the
potential for an additional $3 billion from the provinces. It will lead
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to the most radical overhaul of Canadian farm programs in a generation.
As she spoke, dissident ministers Clay Serby of Saskatchewan and Rosann
Wowchuk of Manitoba sat in the audience rather than at the table,
refusing to sign. Quebec minister Maxime Arseneau was nowhere to be
seen.
But McClellan made no apologies for breaking ranks with her fellow
prairie ministers.
It was 40 C the previous day in Lloydminster, she said, and farmers in
much of the province have had virtually no rain. “They need us, as a
province, to get on with negotiations with our partners on a safety
net.”
Federal minister Lyle Vanclief predicted that the dissident provinces
would change their minds and sign on to this “bold course.”
The most profound disagreement came from Saskatchewan and Manitoba,
which complained that federal funding promises are too low to put the
industry on a solid footing. Both also objected that federal promises
of $1.2 billion in “transition” funding over two years, while not
mentioned in the Halifax agreement, is too little and should not
require provincial co-funding.
“I wasn’t comfortable signing because I wasn’t comfortable not knowing
what financial obligations my province has,” Serby said in an
interview. “When you look at the amount of money that has gone into
this package, we are setting ourselves up for failure before we even
start.”
The agreement in principle calls for a five-year policy supporting a
stronger safety net, environmental stewardship, food safety, research
and innovation and “renewal,” which ranges from educating farmers to
helping them leave the land.
Ottawa has promised $1.1 billion in annual safety net funding for at
least five years, with provinces expected to add close to $800 million
more. Ottawa and the provinces will spend the next months negotiating
changes to crop insurance, the Net Income Stabilization Account program
and a replacement for the much-maligned Canadian Farm Income Program,
as well as agreements on the other “pillars.”
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president and Manitoba hog and
turkey producer Bob Friesen welcomed the deal after earlier urging
ministers not to “close any doors” in potential program design.
“The agreement had to be worded in such a manner as to keep all options
open until we can determine with government what works and what
doesn’t,” he said. “We believe this agreement is a step in the right
direction in allowing this to happen.”
Still, the signing ceremony was a bittersweet moment for Vanclief, who
before the conference said he was confident all 10 provinces and three
territories would sign.
As well as three provinces that refused to sign, Prince Edward Island,
Yukon and Northwest Territories offered a letter of intent to sign
later if their governments agree once a thorough review has been done.
Quebec, whose Parti Quebecois government faces an election within a
year, considered the federal conditions too rigid and the federal funds
too paltry to justify changing Quebec programs. Quebec spends close to
$3 for every federal dollar sent to the province.
