Tories close the door on federal co-funding for provincial risk management programs

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Lack of provincial allies has helped extinguish any hope that Ontario can persuade Ottawa to share the cost of provincially designed farm support programs

by BARRY WILSON

The end of any hope that the federal Conservative government will succumb to Ontario's arguments that Ottawa should co-fund the Risk Management Program came in November at a Parliament Hill meeting.

Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz was there and Ontario Conservative MP Larry Miller, chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee, gave him the platform to deliver the verdict.

When agriculture ministers meet, do any other provinces support Ontario's demand for federal co-funding of provincial business risk management programs based on production costs? Miller asked.

No other province has come forward with that, replied Ritz.

Under current federal-provincial rules, Ottawa plus at least seven provinces representing at least 50 per cent of farm receipts must support any change in national business risk management rules.

So the lack of other provincial allies for Ontario (although Quebec could be counted on to agree) means the idea will not fly in the current Growing Forward program that runs until March 31, 2013. And it likely will have no legs in discussions over design of the next policy framework scheduled to kick in April 1, 2013.

But Ritz went further than simply hiding behind the lack of Ontario allies among the provinces. As federal minister, he also would have a veto and Ritz said he disagrees with the proposal. I still have the same concerns as do the other provinces that it is completely countervailable if ever paid out in any significant way, said the federal minister.

He said farmer groups also oppose the idea of federal funding for provincial farm support programs based on cost-of-production payment triggers.

Ritz said he gets farmer letters urging him not to support RMP. Please don't do this because if it closes our border, the little bit of money that we trigger through RMP would not offset the hurt that we would see in a closed border, the minister said the letters argued.

Curiously, two of the biggest agricultural provinces – Quebec and Ontario – do support federal contributions to provincially designed farm support programs and the largest Canadian farm organization, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, does as well.

Still, at a later Commons agriculture meeting where opposition MPs pressed that point, senior Agriculture Canada bureaucrat Greg Meredith closed the door even tighter.

Why can't the federal five-year, $500 million AgriFlexibility program be used to support provincial farm support programs? they asked.

The minister has indicated from the get-go that AgriFlex would not be used for subsidizing provincial risk management programs, said the assistant deputy minister for the strategic policy branch. I think it is perilous to underestimate the risk there because, once countervail is instituted, it's a very difficult situation to extricate yourself from. It's a five-year review so you're looking at a five-year penalty on your export markets.

Meredith acknowledged Ottawa is under pressure from Quebec and Ontario on the issue, but he insisted there will be no federal support for cost-of-production provincial programs.

Opposition Liberals, who negotiated the end of federal support for provincial companion programs almost a decade ago when in government, say they now support the idea again.

If it is a ballot issue for Ontario farmers, they will have to decide how credible that Liberal promise is and whether Conservatives should be punished for their rigid stance. BF

Barry Wilson is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery specializing in agriculture.