The June 10 edition of the Western Producer has (Saskatchewan agriculture minister) Mr. Upshall stating that the AIDA (Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance) program is not worth tinkering with. Upshall also stated that AIDA should be scrapped and that a NISA top-up would have been much easier.
The June 17 edition has our federal agriculture minister Vanclief stating that they, the feds, wanted to do a NISA top-up last fall but Mr. Upshall said no.
I believe that our premier and Mr. Upshall signed us farmers into AIDA because it was the cheapest of the two programs.
Read Also
Budget seen as fairly solid, but worrying cracks appear
The reaction from the agriculture industry to prime minister Mark Carney’s first budget handed down November 4th has been largely positive.
They both knew before signing that the majority of us farmers would not trigger (only three percent triggered to date) versus a possible 100 percent triggering of a NISA top-up. This goes along with our premier’s song and dance that we … as a province cannot afford this.
Well Mr. Premier, I’m writing this letter to remind you and all other taxpayers in this province that this province of Saskatchewan cannot afford not to support us farmers.
If we farmers are eliminated from the Saskatchewan tax base, the tax load will be shifted to the laborers and city people.
All the tax dollars generated from multiple taxing of our farm inputs along with the hidden taxes … will be passed on to the backs of the taxpayers remaining. Not to mention all the billions of dollars of wealth we farmers create with our livestock and crops generating tax dollars for both levels of government.
How many times, Mr. Premier, have you stopped federal and provincial dollars from us farmers’ hands?…
You can tinker with AIDA until the cows come home. It will never work. It will always be in favor of both levels of government not to pay instead of being a benefit to us farmers. …
Using AIDA’s formula 100 percent minus 100 percent equals zero dollars support.
Why don’t you politicians reverse the AIDA formula in favor of us farmers? Or put a cost of production into AIDA? Like 100 percent minus 70 percent equals a 30 percent pay out to every farmer ….
– Lloyd Pletz,
Balcarres, Sask.
