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Conservatives will invest an additional $500 million in farm support programs

THE CHALLENGE:

The family farm has long been a backbone of our country. For generations, our farmers have fed Canadians and become a breadbasket to the world. But farmers need our support.

Farm incomes are down. The Liberals have admitted that the value of grain and oilseed production is down approximately $2 billion this year compared with the average over the past ten years. Our beef and cattle producers have also struggled – suffering under a two-year American ban on live Canadian cattle that cost Canadian producers more than $7 billion. During the fight to re-open the border, the Liberals sat on the sidelines, voting against a motion to send an all-party delegation to Washington in 2003, and leaving it to the Conservative Party to defend the political and legal interests of Canadian producers in 2005.

Results of the WTO talks in Hong Kong were disappointing for the 90 per cent of Canadian producers who are export-oriented. The Liberal ministers who attended the WTO meetings in Hong Kong failed to work successfully on behalf of pork, beef, grain, and oilseed producers, among others, who need greater access to international markets in order to get a fair return on their product.

And finally, the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program has proven to be completely inadequate to address problems due to unfair trade as well as disasters such as drought and flooding in 2005. However, the Liberal government refused to significantly reform CAIS for the better, and farmers are still suffering from an inadequate income stabilization program that is also ineffective in addressing disaster situations.

Canadian producers deserve better. A Conservative government will stand up for Canadian agriculture in world trade negotiations, provide more responsive farm income support and disaster relief, and move towards a Canadian ethanol strategy.

THE PLAN:

Today Stephen Harper unveiled the Conservative plan to stand up for Canadian agriculture. A Conservative government will:

• Work with the provinces to replace the CAIS program in order to make income stabilization more responsive for average producers;
• Introduce a separate disaster relief program above and beyond CAIS; and
• Require an average of 5 per cent renewable fuel content in Canadian fuel by 2010.

A Conservative Government will also:

• Ensure that the $755 million in emergency federal assistance to grain and oilseed producers announced by the government on November 23, 2005, is delivered as quickly as possible.
• Ensure that agricultural industries that choose to operate under domestic supply management remain viable. Canada needs efficient production planning, market-based returns to producers, and predictable imports to operate domestic supply management systems.
• Give western grain farmers the freedom to make their own marketing and transportation decisions and allow them to participate voluntarily in producer organizations.
• Defend Canada’s agricultural sectors, including the supply managed sectors, when negotiating international trade agreements. A Conservative government will seek better market access for Canadian agricultural and agri-food products in new and emerging markets. We will pursue strong, rules-based trade liberalization at the World Trade Organization.
• Work toward a comprehensive program of research and development targeting new and emerging markets and technologies throughout the world.
• Continue farm improvement loan guarantees and implement any necessary changes, such as an extension of the program to new farmers.

INCOME STABILIZATION AND DISASTER RELIEF:

Cattle, grain, and other produces have been extremely unsatisfied with existing Liberal income stabilization programs. In short, the CAIS program has proven neither flexible enough nor funded sufficiently to deal with the consequences when a farm sector faces natural disaster or the collapse of its traditional markets. Recent examples include the cattle trade ban, the avian flu scare, and ongoing difficulties with trade-distorting agricultural subsidies.

A Conservative government will replace CAIS with a new income stabilization program that is simpler and more responsive. We will ensure that it properly addresses the cost of production, market revenue, and inventory evaluation.

Secondly, a Conservative government will be ready to take a leadership role when disaster strikes, and fund disaster relief separately from income stabilization.

A Conservative government will also implement a Green Cover Crop Program to protect prairie farms. Severe flooding in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba has adversely affected the opportunity for farmers to harvest their normal crop. A Green Crop Cover Program will create a compensation fund for farmers facing crop damage caused by severe flooding.

In order to properly fund a new income stabilization program and introduce a separate disaster relief program, a Conservative government will commit an extra $500 million per year to agriculture support programs over and above existing federal agriculture spending.

RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD:

A Conservative government will require an average of 5 per cent renewable fuel content, such as ethanol and biodiesel, in our fuel by 2010.

Currently less than one per cent of gasoline and diesel fuel content is renewable. We want to increase that renewable fuel content to five per cent overall.

Ethanol is an alcohol made from wheat, barley, canola, straw, corn, and soybeans and can be mixed with traditional non-renewable petroleum. Biodiesel is another clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. It is estimated that Canada has the potential to produce over 15 billion litres of renewable fuel per year.

Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario are all on the road towards requiring higher ethanol blends in fuel, and many countries, including the United States and Brazil, have enacted alternative fuel standards as well.

The benefits of using ethanol and biodiesel as a transportation fuel include lowering engine emissions (particularly sulfur), preserving non-renewable petroleum resources, and increasing demand for domestic agricultural products.

A five per cent renewable fuel content standard will result in greenhouse gas emissions being reduced by about four megatonnes per year by 2010.

By encouraging these fuels we will also create new incentives for investment in rural Canada.

This measure alone could create a new demand for approximately 200 million bushels of agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn, and canola.

A Conservative government will work with the fuel production, automotive, and agricultural industries to ensure that Canada benefits from these new energy technologies.

SUPPLY MANAGEMENT:

We also believe it is in the best interest of Canada and Canadian agriculture that the industries under the protection of supply management remain viable. We will support supply management and its goal to deliver a high quality product to consumers for a fair price with a reasonable return to the producer. A Conservative government recognizes the need for efficient production planning, market-based returns to producers, and predictable imports necessary to operate domestic supply management systems.

GRAIN MARKETING:

A Conservative government will give western grain farmers the freedom to make their own marketing and transportation decisions. Western grain farmers should be able to participate voluntarily in the Canadian Wheat Board.

CANADA AT THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION:

A Conservative government will support the development of strong international rules governing free and fair trade. It is only under such a system of rules that Canada's agricultural producers will be able to get a fair price and fair access to markets around the world. To that end, we are pleased that the latest round of WTO negotiations included the elimination of agricultural export subsidies by 2013.

As well, in future negotiations, a Conservative government will vigorously pursue reduction of international trade barriers and tariffs, and we will seek to enhance export opportunities for all agricultural products with special emphasis on markets for processed and finished commodities.

Unlike the Liberals, a Conservative government would see no value in pitting producer against producer, or region against region. Our party, with its rich history and strength all across this country, has designed a multi-faceted agricultural policy to ensure that all Canadian farmers would be better off under a Conservative government.

THE CHOICE:

For 12 years, Canadian farm families have put up with Liberal indifference.

In this election, Canadians can choose a Conservative government that stands up for agriculture, rural Canada, and a safe food supply for all Canadians.