In a big-spending deficit budget aimed at recession fighting and staving off political defeat, the Conservative government has promised at least $550 million in new spending for the agriculture sector.
Details of the spending were announced in a budget tabled in Parliament Jan. 27 after The Western Producer deadline for this issue.
However, during a Jan. 23 news conference, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz offered a general explanation of some budget measures that would target agriculture.
They include:
- A $500 million “agricultural flexibility plan” over four years that Ritz suggested would be available to support province-specific programs not part of the business risk management safety net programs.
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The money was promised during the election campaign.
- A $50 million injection of money to expand slaughterhouse capacity, although it is not clear whether the money will be used to support construction and expansion of plants or to help packers become more competitive in other ways. It also was an election promise.
Ritz said agriculture and rural agricultural communities also could benefit from a $1 billion resource community infrastructure program in the budget.
While stressing he did not know if it would qualify, the minister cited the example of Guelph, Ont.
“There was a cow slaughter facility that went down in Guelph,” he said. “There is certainly a need for cull cows and canner bulls to be processed in this country so it may react to something like that and get it up and running again.”
The money for agriculture was part of a stimulus budget that projected a $34 billion deficit in the fiscal year beginning April 1 and that poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects, social housing and aid to manufacturing sectors shedding tens of thousands of jobs as the economy contracts and worried consumers quit spending.
In the throne speech read Jan. 26 to open the new session of the new Parliament, the government named agriculture as one of a select group of sectors targeted for help.
“Our government is acting to support Canadian industries in difficulty – including forestry, manufacturing, automotive, tourism, agriculture – and to protect the families and communities who depend on those jobs,” governor general Michaelle Jean read in the speech written by the government.
Specific reaction will come after the budget details are known but Canadian Federation of Agriculture vice-president Ron Bonnett said Jan. 26 the CFA is happy the $500 million has been budgeted but uncertain if the details will meet the need.
“We will have to see the detail of what programs are eligible and what are not,” he said. “And while we have to keep in mind that while $500 million is a lot of money, spread over Canada and over four years it is not huge.”
The CFA is unlikely to be happy with the program.
It has been promoting what it calls an agri-flex fund that would provide money to provincially designed programs aimed at meeting regional needs.
It would include support for provincial farm safety net programs including Ontario’s cost-based risk management program if that is what provinces and their producers decided is a priority.
Last week, Ritz steered away from suggesting the $500 million could be applied to province-specific farm income support programs.
“This program will help farmers deal with costs of production pressures by promoting innovation, ensure environmental sustainability and respond to the market challenges and opportunities that are important to each province and territory in this great country,” he said.
Bonnett said details of the program rules must be published quickly. He said the CFA also wants to see a federal funding commitment that includes non-safety net programs such as farm environmental plans, on-farm food safety and innovation.
Details of these non-business risk management programs were not complete when the Growing Forward five-year framework launched last year and the existing programs had to be extended for a year but with inadequate funding for the demand. Lack of future details and funding, while promised by politicians, has left farm supporters of those programs uneasy.
“There is a complete lack of confidence that these programs will be there in future and properly funded,” Bonnett said.
Federal, provincial and territorial ministers are tentatively scheduled to meet in Ottawa Feb. 9 to sign an agreement that would allow new programs to be launched April 1.
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