PROGRESS BEING MADE TO IMPROVE CANADA’S AG CRISIS
By Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. for Yorkton-Melville - September 26, 2006

The first few months as a sitting government have been interesting and productive. The promised reduction of the GST, the implementation of the Child Care Credit and the Softwood Lumber deal are visible accomplishments we have achieved, and there is much more to come as we go forward in the fall sitting of Parliament.

While the priorities of Members of Parliament may vary from region to region, my primary focus remains on agriculture and establishing an adequate alternative to CAIS.

Canadian farmers and their families have shown continued resilience facing challenges such as animal disease, bad weather and adverse market conditions. This makes it difficult to make a decent livelihood from agriculture. As a member of the sitting government, we understand that despite income stabilization programs, and programming to address disasters, there is an important gap we must close to allow our farmers to keep going.

Much progress has been made since Canada’s new Minister of Agriculture was sworn in earlier this year. Through meetings with producers across Canada, including hundreds attending my Agriculture Forum in March, the Honourable Chuck Strahl has come to understand the real issues facing farmers today. As a result of this direct contact with farmers, our government’s commitment to the agriculture industry is apparent.

As opposed to previous years when agriculture received hardly a mention, the 2006 Budget, announced in May, included a real plan to help Canadian producers. Through the budget, the Government invested an additional $1.5 billion in our farmers and in the future, tripling our original commitment to the agriculture sector this fiscal year. We see the importance of addressing the short-term need, but with an eye to long-term stability.

Farm families can rely on support in situations of major natural disasters, such as the flooding in the Porcupine Plain area last fall and this spring. Through the Cover Crop Protection Program (CCPP), farmers are able to deal with the damage caused by flooding of their fields. The application deadline for this program is October 31, 2006.

While the flawed CAIS program must for now remain, we are committed to its replacement. During the interim, however, we are taking steps to make it workable. For 2006, the CAIS deposit has been replaced with a fee, freeing up more working capital for farmers, and they do not have to pay a fee or make a deposit for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 program years.

The Farm Improvement and Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act (FIMCLA) has been continued allowing farmers to easily access credit to improve assets, strengthen production, and stabilize the financial viability of their farms.
And finally, our election promise to allow Canadian farmers to choose the best way to market their own grain is in full motion. Just last week, Minister Strahl announced the creation of a task force to recommend options on the way forward in implementing marketing choice for western wheat and barley. The task force will identify technical and transition issues as to how the CWB could operate in a marketing choice environment.
At first thought it may not be apparent, but the newly established Outdoors Caucus, of which I am founder and co-chair, is closely linked to agriculture. Although it is greatly undervalued, the agriculture industry aids in the conservation of the environment and wildlife. Recognizing this connection, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) has sent me a letter of support and requested to attend a meeting of the Outdoors Caucus to address the issue of Ecological Goods and Services (EG&S) and Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS). I look forward to hearing the CFA presentation.

I have received many, many calls to my offices from producers throughout the constituency who are struggling every day. Your communication and input is very important, and allows me to convey to the Agriculture Minister a strong and very real message. It is through your contact that we can assess existing programs and take steps to develop new programs in an effort to meet your needs.

Canadian farm families are an integral part of our economy and our government wants to make certain that our farmers have a chance to earn a decent living. While there is no immediate or one-time solution that will solve the barrage of challenges facing Canadian farmers, we are making progress.