'Nothing scary' in provincial budget, says policy analyst
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
by DON STONEMAN
A new tax exemption is one positive point for agriculture: The land transfer tax will no longer apply to land transferred to a family member from a family farm corporation. The exemption has applied for several years to parent to child inter-generational transfers.
Bent said this change would benefit farmers mostly in southwestern Ontario, explaining there are “regional differences” across the province in how farmers have set up their family farm corporations. The proposed measure would apply to qualifying transfers after Mar. 25, 2008. “Unfortunately, it is not retroactive,” Bent said.
Some other budget items specifically mentioned for agriculture that may have been announced before the election last fall:
- $56 million over four years for the Pick Ontario Freshness strategy and the Ontario Farmers' Markets initiative.
- $56 million to University of Guelph supporting research, animal health and Ontario Veterinary College.
- Vineland Research and Innovation Centre with $12.5 million in 20078-08.
- Supporting research into chemical and fuels made from agricultural resources by providing $7.5 million in 2007-2008 to the University of Western Ontario.
- $7.5 million annual to enhance broadband access in rural southern Ontario.
When delivering his budget speech, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the provincial Buy Ontario promotional campaign “is about more than being sure we purchase our fruits and vegetables from Ontario farmers — it is about recognizing the importance of the agri-food sector to our future prosperity.” He also noted “the groundbreaking risk management program established this year, coupled with the $1.1 billion we will spend in the coming year, will help ensure that farmers continue to thrive.”
Geri Kamenz, OFA president, was optimistic about agriculture’s share of the budget. It "sends a signal that the premier recognizes the stability that agriculture brings to the Ontario economy and it is worth investing in that kind of stability," he said.
Others were more reserved about the budget’s impact and implications.
Progressive Conservative agriculture critic Ernie Hardeman anticipated few farms would be affected by the land transfer tax exemption. He said provincial officials told him the exemption is going to cost the province about $1 million annually.
Noting that younger farmers were left out when $130 million in emergency money was given out to beef, pork and horticultural producers, Hardeman said the government “didn’t speak to (the omission) at all,” in the budget.
Paisley farmer Grant Robertson leader of the National Farmers Union, said there was "nothing terribly wrong" about the budget but nothing particularly right with it either. He described the budget as "stand pat" but emphasized the NFU wasn't all that critical of the budget even though there were some things beyond what it addressed that could have been looked at.
He found it disappointing that that the budget didn't reveal a vision to reorient the industry so that farmers could recapture markets lost "here at home" that are high value and high quality. Ontario ships many animals to other locations for processing and imports products to supply its large ethnic markets.
The "sad irony," he said, is the budget is based on job creation and job growth, and investing in strategies to recapture these markets would have been one way to create jobs in rural Ontario.
The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario did not respond to a request for an interview about the budget. BF
With files from Mary Baxter