Huron Expositor, 2009-02-04, Page 2Page 2 The Huron Expositor • February 4, 2009
News
e r
•
Local farmers frustrated federal budget ignores risk
management and diesel fuel tax reduction
Funding to increase slaughterhouse capacity In Canada welcome, says Black
Dan Schwab
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The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture and its provincial parent
organization are feeling "disappoint-
ed" but not totally ignored by the
federal government after the release
of the 2009 budget last week.
Specific requests made by the farm-
ing community to the government as
it prepared the budget were disre-
garded, including a previous prom-
ise by the feds to help those who lost
more than half their revenue due to
increased input costs.
Farmers are also frustrated that
calls for the introduction of the Agri -
Flex program were ignored.
• "We have lobbied our local MP
that AgriFlex program funding was
needed that would allow provinces
to determine where it is needed most
-- such as the current Risk Manage-
ment Program in Ontario," says
HCFA president Wayne Black.
He says the budget announcement
of $500 million towards an agricul-
tural flexibility program specifically
excluded business risk management
programs such as the RMP in Ontar-
io. C s t -, «� zt w n .t ,.
"This means the federal govern-
ment is still not willing to fund their
60 per cent share of the current On-
tario RMP," he adds.
He says the budget refers to fund-
ing programs that will reduce costs
of production and improve environ-
mental sustainability but do not tar-
get the risk management programs
that farm groups were asking for.
Steve Thompson, a grains and
oilseeds farmer
near Clinton and
past -president of
the Huron Coun-
ty Federation of
Agriculture, says
the made -in -On-
tario RMP de-
veloped in 2007
has already paid
farmers a sub-
stantial amount
of money just
from the prov-
ince's 40 per cent
share.
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CASE 111
Request for Public Opinion
on the Proposed Nursin Ho e
al..Licence Renewal of
e, :4 _'1$
� � rreii Ma r. , 0r , !Seaforth
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in accordance with the Nursing Homes Act, public opinion is being requested prior to a final decision being made on
'the above.
If you have comments or opinions and wish to bring them to the attention of the Ministry of Health and Long -Term Care,
you may submit them by March 9, 2009 to:
Director under the Nursing Homes Act
Ministry of Health and Long -Term Care
Performance Imprcwement and Compliance Branch
Licensing, Education and Appeals
55 St. Clair Avenue West, 8th Floor, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M4V 2Y7
Phone: 416-327-7345 Fax: 416-327-7763
Please include the name of the nursing home and quote Project #267 -Or )n all written submissions.
The Director will consider all submissions before making a final decision.
�., #`�Lt ��•trf '� �� 4i_� T) --"Ontario
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Of the $500 million flexibility pro-
gram, $190 million is new money
that is allocated over the next two
years, Black says.
"The rest will come from cuts to
current Agriculture and Agri -Food
Canada program funding," he says.
The expected reduction in the fed-
eral excise tax on diesel fuel from
four per cent per liter to two percent
was also left out of the budget.
"It was an easy fix to a big problem
but that initiative remains in the to-
do column," said Don McCabe, vice
president of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture, in a press release last
week.
He says the requirement for match-
ing money earmarked for much
needed meat processing facilities is
expected to discourage investments.
Black says the HCFA is pleased
to see a $50 million investment
in :slaughterhouse capacity, which
means more live animals will be
processed in Canada creating more
jobs.
"Having a place to sell the animals
within our borders will ensure a
competitive marketplace to ensure
decent returns for farmers," he says.
Another welcomed addition to the
budget are proposed changes to the
Farm Improvement and Marketing
Co-operatives Loans Act, meant to
assist beginner farmers with expan-
sion opportunities or by bringing in
new knowledge to develop their cur-
rent marketing.
But Black
says another ini-
tiative meant to
help youngfarm-
ers that received
no budget atten-
tion was the re-
quest to the Min-
ister of Human
NON -DENOMINATIONAL
WEDDINGS
CHRISTENINGS
Your Location or Ours
Rev. Chris Morgan
Pastor Paula Morgan
519-5244124
www.drehrismoryan.ca
Resources. and Skills Development
to establish an "expert panel" to de-
cide how to- provide self-employed
Canadians access to employment in-
surance maternity and parental ben-
efits.
"Right now there are no benefits •
at all and some children lose out
on that initial parent-child bonding
that occurs in the first few months,"
he says.
Black says the HCFA wants fur-
ther clarification for farmers and in-
put on specific farm programs from
the federal government..
"Agriculture needs support in or-
der to maintain its position as the
second largest economic contributor
in the province," he says. "Farmers
offer solutions to the economic crisis
by way of local food, energy, environ-
mental goods and services and jobs.
Without ag programs and support,
job losses will only get worse."
The budget left out tax incentives
for Canadian farmers that were cru-
cial to keep them competitive with
their U.S. counterparts, says Thomp-
son, who prepares farm income tax
returns.
He says farmers south of the bor-
der recently received tax incentives
in response to the U.S. financial cri-
sis.
The assistance they've received
puts Canadian farmers at a huge:
competitive disadvantage, he says.
"For example, a U.S. farmer who
purchased a $300,000 combine in
2008 could expense about $267,000
of that," he explains. "A similar pur-
chase in Canada would allow for the
creation of a $45,000 expense a dif-
ference of some $222,000 which goes
right to the U.S. farmer's bottom-
line:"
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