CALL YOUR MP, YOUR MPP OR MLA, AND YOUR MINISTER TODAY!
CFA President calls farmers to action on income disaster program
OTTAWA - Canadian Federation of Agriculture President Jack Wilkinson issued a call-to-action to Canadian farmers today. The call comes as farmers, many of whom are facing the worst income crisis since the Great Depression, continue to wait for the federal and provincial governments to hammer out the details of a national income disaster program.
"A month ago, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lyle Vanclief, announced that $900 million was available to help farmers in need and that he was working to ensure that information would be available in short order to make his announcement ‘bankable’. The unfortunate reality is that farmers are no closer to that badly needed resource today than they were a month ago."
Wilkinson’s frustration at the delays caused by bureaucratic brinkmanship and the evaporation of any political pressure to deliver the program as envisioned by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture are evident. "The money promised by the Minister belongs in farmers’ hands -- not government treasuries. It is intended to help farmers in need, their families, and the communities they support. Cabinet did not free-up the money for the benefit of agriculture departments across the country," said the CFA President.
In his letter, Wilkinson outlines the goals to which the CFA remains committed, then asks the farmers of Canada to "call their MP’s, their MPPs and MLAs, and their Ministers of Agriculture today."
A copy of Mr. Wilkinson’s letter accompanies this release.
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Today, farmers still have little detail about how the program will be managed and therefore how and when it will be delivered. A month after the Minister's announcement, there is nothing that can be considered remotely close to being "bankable". The federal and provincial bureaucracies appear to be more concerned about turf warfare than the farmers' welfare. As a result, farmers are not much closer to receiving the disaster funds than they were at the time of the Minister's announcement. The money needs to be in farmers hands - not in governments'.
The time for federal-provincial bargaining is over. Bureaucrats need to make the decisions that are going to move this issue ahead. They must stop trying to ratchet government exposure down to the lowest common denominator and concentrate, instead, on supporting farmers, farm families and rural communities. After all, the disaster program is intended for their benefit not for those who would administer it.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture continues to work to ensure that the income disaster program will cover 70% of reference margin (including negative margin), will be disconnected from NISA, and no-prorated.
Farmers from all provinces must make sure that their own provincial governments as well as federal MP's understand the need to have a real program that will pay out funds that farmers need now, not one that is designed to pay out only the bare minimum. Both federal and provincial politicians must also be made to understand that the decisions must be made as quickly as possible. Farmers in financial distress are having to make decisions on a daily basis. They need to have the right information on which to base those decisions. Time is a luxury many farmers no longer have at their disposal.
Governments announced the disaster support because of the strong demands of farmers from coast to coast. Were these announcements just promises? Was there an intent to back those promises up with real, deliverable programs? Who is there to ensure that farmers get the kind of program they fought for and won prior to last month's announcement by Minister Vanclief? These are the questions we have to start asking.
If you want the disaster program to pay out before summer, call your MP, call your MPP or your MLA, and call your Minister of Agriculture today. Tell them that the time for leadership did not end with last month's announcement that was only the beginning!
Sincerely,
Jack Wilkinson,
President
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
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