Bloc québécois (BQ)

The Farm Income Crisis in Canada

Dissenting Report by the BQ

Prepared as Part of the Deliberations of the
Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food

December 1998

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By holding a series of hearings from November 3 to December 2, 1998, the Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Agriculture and Agri-Food endeavoured to respond to the upcoming farm income crisis in Canada. Although the Committee heard 19 groups of producer representatives as well as the Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture and Food, our political party points out that these representatives' message was simply not understood. The recommendations proposed in the majority Liberal Report are lackluster, not to say meaningless. In summary, they fail to take into account that action is urgent, and the BQ therefore refuses to associate itself with the majority Report.

Thus, firstly, we note that the Report's original title, "The Upcoming Farm Income Crisis in Canada", betrays a profound lack of understanding of the reality of the agri-food sector. In the opinion of the BQ, the farm income crisis in Canada is not upcoming: it is here now, and producers are experiencing its effects here and now. In addition, the Report quotes Yvon Proulx of the Union des producteurs agricoles [Quebec union of agricultural producers]: "The farm income crisis is not merely upcoming: it is very real." Despite this statement, the proposed recommendations completely fail to take into account the urgency of the situation for producers. The Report's backbone recommendation, Recommendation No. 4, proposes that a national income-based disaster insurance program be set up, specifying that the program should be set up immediately, but providing no specific timetable. Furthermore, the recommendation recognizes that producers need support for low 1998 farm income, that is, present cash flow needs. In that recommendation, the Liberal majority clearly indicates that producers' cash flow needs are present needs, not upcoming needs; why, then, does it not respond to these needs now, with a specific timetable? In the opinion of the BQ, if the program requires producers to file income tax returns, then the support will arrive too late: the Committee is missing the boat, giving the Liberal government a blank cheque by refusing to specify a timetable for the program.

Secondly, the first three recommendations deal with an intensive information campaign demonstrating the harmful effects of foreign export subsidies on Canada's agri-food industry, a study of the cumulative impact of cost recovery on this industry, and the need for a proposed solution also to form the basis for a long-term farm income support policy. Obviously, those recommendations provide nothing concrete for producers now; once again, the Liberal majority on the Committee has disregarded the urgency of the situation. The last recommendation proposes increased farm income support: how paradoxical, when for years the federal government has steadily slashed budgets for, and imposed cost recovery on, a great many sectors in the agri-food industry.

The BQ nevertheless wants to emphasize that it agrees with the basic principle of setting up an emergency producer support program, negotiated in cooperation with the provinces. However, this program, which the government wants to be national and income-based, must take into account the specific situation of Quebec's agri-food industry. We point out that, since the Quebec government has already taken concrete action to assist Quebec hog producers, it would be completely unacceptable for the Minister not to take that action into account in developing the emergency producer support program. The BQ intends to continue to ensure that the principle of equity, and thus the interests of Quebec producers, are respected. We shall not hesitate to defend this principle on all fronts, or to remind Minister Vanclief that, in response to a question from the BQ about the emergency producer support program, he stated that producers would be treated in an equitable manner regardless of the province in which they live.

Not long ago, the Quebec government also assisted Quebec sheep producers who, because of scrapie, are experiencing the most serious crisis in the history of that sector. Here again, unlike the federal government, the Quebec government has moved quickly to support Quebec producers; and here again, the BQ intends to be vigilant in ensuring that the principle of equity is respected and any federal support program applies to sheep producers and does not penalize Quebec in any way.

In conclusion, the BQ wants to commend the serious work done by the Committee in hearing a considerable number of witnesses at its hearings. That said, we also want to point out the cavalier manner in which our party and the other opposition parties were treated during the consideration and revision of the Committee Report. The opposition parties were given neither the time to see a revised version of the Report nor the normal 48-hour time period in which to produce dissenting reports. We strongly protest against this practice, which runs counter to established rules and utterly fails to respect democracy.