Released on October 24, 2002
Ottawa needs to stop its campaign of misinformation on agriculturalspending, according to Saskatchewan's Deputy Premier.
Deputy Premier and Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization Minister Clay
Serby said recent comments made by Federal Agriculture Minister Lyle
Vanclief are an attempt to avoid what is clearly a federal responsibility.
Vanclief suggested during an emergency debate in the House of Commons that
the provinces, not the federal government, should spend more money on
agriculture.
"The federal government's own numbers show that Saskatchewan taxpayers fund
agricultural programming at a level four times higher than the commitment
made by the federal government," Serby said. "For Minister Vanclief to
suggest that we can 'choose' to spend more is ludicrous."
Serby reminded Vanclief that it was the federal government that cut the
Crow Benefit and failed to negotiate trade rules that put Canadian grain
and oilseed farmers on an equal footing with their international
competitors. It was also the federal government that downloaded the cost
of funding national programs to the provinces - whether they had the fiscal
capacity to shoulder that burden or not.
"Our trading competitors – the United States and the European Union –
provide the majority of their support at the national levels," Serby
said. "In Canada, we have a federal government that is reluctant to step
up to the plate. Minister Vanclief would better serve farmers by telling
them what 2003 risk management programs will look like and how the federal
government plans to fund them. We asked him for that information in July.
Producers in other provinces are also now asking the same question. Where
is the federal response?"
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For more information, contact:
Scott Brown
Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-4031