Now that the federal election is over – the one in Canada – there’s a lot of unfinished business our farmers need to discuss with Prime Minister Harper and his new government.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture members discussed many issues with election candidates before the vote, but that may seem like ages ago in the life of a politician.
During the campaign, there was acknowledgment by Gerry Ritz, now returned as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, that regional programs such as Ontario’s Business Risk Management Program should be funded by the federal government.
OFA and our commodity partners were successful in getting a campaign promise of $500 million over four years. That would be a good starting position, but less than adequate for a meaningful national program.
Ontario farmers need programs that provide much more flexibility. Our competitors enjoy a wide range of publicly funded programs to protect them from the radical swings of markets.
What the federal government has offered to this point in its Growing Forward suite of programs still needs work.
AgriFlex is a business risk management program that would complement and fill identified gaps in the proposed suite on a province-by-province basis. This is all we’re asking from the federal government. In Ontario, it would mean federal funding of a permanent Risk Management Program for grains and oilseeds producers and other programs proposed by commodity organizations – livestock and horticulture.
When the Agricultural Policy Framework was developed and implemented over five years ago, such things as production insurance for livestock and self-directed risk management for horticultural crops were promised. We’re still waiting for these programs.
The delay for our farmers to have access to new and more efficient crop protection and veterinary products is measured in years, and that’s putting us at a huge economic disadvantage. Our government must move quickly to harmonize our regulations with competing nations.
Another issue that’s closing in on us quickly is the price of carbon credits. We will be looking to Minister of Environment Prentice to establish a carbon credit trading system based on a national open price discovery system, compatible with international systems that would fully recognize and reward Ontario’s beneficial farm management practices – things such as carbon sequestration, anaerobic digestion systems and nitrogen use reduction.
We know Prime Minister Harper has acknowledged the need for an updated food safety and food labelling system in Canada. That’s important for a number of reasons – we want Canadian consumers to be able to identify food produced in Canada so they can buy their food with greater assurance of quality and safety.
It is also important to Canadian farmers that their government will play a major role in identifying food from Canada on the export market. Adequate promotion of the quality and value of Canadian food products will improve our export sales.
Let’s look at the other recent election. U.S. President-elect Obama was reported to be promoting a review of the North American Free Trade Agreement in his campaign speeches early this year. Now that he’s won the election, we will be counting on new International Trade Minister Stockwell Day to present a strong and balanced position. He will need to heed the advice of the CFA to ensure Canadian farmers benefit from all our trade agreements
We have many economic concerns to sort through. We are counting on the prime minister and his new cabinet to work with us to grow a strong farm economy.
Geri Kamenz is the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
