NEWS RELEASE

August 25, 1999                                                                                                                    For Immediate Release

Wake Up Call For Liberals – Only 7% of Saskatchewan Farmers Qualify For AIDA

"Ottawa has to act now, not in November to get support to producers"

Yorkton – Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Agriculture Critic and Member of Parliament for Yorkton – Melville, was frustrated but not surprised with latest figures from the Agriculture Income Disaster Assistance (AIDA) program. "When less than 7% of Saskatchewan farmers are getting assistance, it should be a wake up call to this government that this seriously flawed program is a disaster," stated Breitkreuz.

Here are the latest Saskatchewan AIDA figures as of August 20, 1999:

Number of applications sent into AIDA – 22,000

Number of applications that have been processed – 7,400

Number of applications that have been approved – 3,625

Total payout to Saskatchewan Producers - $39,000,000

Average payout to approved producers - $10,750

With about 55,000 farmers in Saskatchewan, less than 7% of producers are receiving funding from AIDA. "The numbers don’t lie. More than half of the farmers that apply for assistance from AIDA are being rejected. This is totally inadequate. The government was concerned that too many farmers would qualify, so they designed a program that makes sure very few would ever get assistance," declared Breitkreuz.

The realized net income for Saskatchewan will be minus $49 million this year and that includes the estimated 400 million dollars that was supposed to be allocated to Saskatchewan producers. "Only $39 million has been handed out so far by AIDA which means less than 10% of what has been allocated is getting to producers. Government is responsible for a lot of the problems in agriculture through their high tax policies, so they have to be part of the solution," Breitkreuz said.

The federal government has said they are not going to review the farm safety net program until November. "That is too late. By October 31, 1999 when the harvest is done, farmers are going to have bills to pay, and most are wondering how they are going to make their payments. If producers have to wait until 2000 before they can try again for government funding, it will be too late. Many farmers in my constituency have stated AIDA has not helped and this could very well be their last year unless they get some support. The Agriculture Minister is completely out of touch with the situation in Western Canada. Long term solutions need to be put in place but first there needs to be immediate assistance for producers. A revamped AIDA program next year will be too late," Breitkreuz concluded.

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Yorkton: 1-800-667-6606

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