Released on February 28, 1995
The provincial government and a number of organizations representingSaskatchewan farm families and communities today expressed grave
concern over the impact to the Saskatchewan economy caused by federal
budget cuts in agriculture and transportation.
Premier Roy Romanow; Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan
Association of Rural Municipalities, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities
Association president Murray Westby; and, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
president Leroy Larsen issued a joint statement in opposition to
federal budget cuts in agriculture and transportation.
"The federal budget does not meet the test of fairness as between the
regions of Canada and as between the people of Canada," Romanow said.
"The Crow benefit alone is worth $560 million a year to prairie
farmers. It will be eliminated while the departments of agriculture
and transportation are seeing their budgets cut by 20 per cent and 50
per cent respectively. This means that a province like Saskatchewan,
which depends so heavily on agriculture and transportation, is being
hit disproportionately. How is this fair?"
"It is also a concern that important farm safety net programs like NISA
and crop insurance are targeted for cuts of up to 30 per cent over the
next three years," Harrison said. "This will mean less money in
farmers' pockets and less money in the local economy."
"These sharp cuts in support for agriculture couldn't come at a worse
time for Saskatchewan farm families," Larsen said. "Farm incomes are
just starting to recover from a number of years of low prices and poor
yields. Now much of the benefit of the turnaround in the farm economy
will be taken away? I'm also concerned that there seems to be no clear
plan from the federal government as to how to pay farmers for the loss
of the Crow benefit. This uncertainty will simply add to the anxiety
that all farm families and communities will feel."
"When farm families are hit, Saskatchewan communities feel the impact,"
Westby said. "We are very concerned about what the long-term effect
will be to Saskatchewan's cities, towns and villages."
"The federal government has created a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of
pain, while going less than half way toward a balanced budget in the
next two years," Romanow said. "Worst of all, the budget abandons
national commitments to agriculture and transportation which are vital
to the future of our national economy."
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For more information, contact:
Dave Burdeniuk
Media Relations
Regina
Phone: 787-6349