OTTAWA – Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright, is glad to see significant movement toward the eventual complete replacement of the ineffective Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program.
"This Conservative government is proud to support our farmers,” confirms Benoit. “Since being elected – and before – we have listened to farmers across the country tell us that CAIS was not addressing their needs. So, working with our provincial and territorial counterparts, we have responded with significant improvements to the margin-based program. An agreement-in-principle has been reached on a disaster relief framework and we are working to expand Production Insurance to even more commodities.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced a $1 billion commitment to help address gaps in existing programs and significant increases in the cost of production. “A farmer savings program is an important step forward in replacing CAIS with programming that is more predictable, bankable and better able to help producers respond to rising costs,” stated the Prime Minister.
Minister of Agriculture Chuck Strahl went on to explain that, “This new program combined with the disaster relief framework, improved production insurance, and an improved margin-based program represents this Government’s proposal for the replacement of CAIS.”
The funds announced include a $400 million payment to help with the high cost of production and will be delivered through a direct payment to producers of non-supply managed commodities. Producers will receive a payment directly and will not have to apply. Details will be available in the coming weeks.
Once agreement is reached with the provinces and territories, an additional $600 million in federal funding will kick-start new producer savings accounts. Benoit pointed out that his Conservative government is not asking provinces and territories to match the $600 million in new funding for these accounts. “However, it is essential that we come to an agreement with them on the details of this new approach, including cost sharing future government contributions to the accounts on an ongoing basis,” he says.
"As the Prime Minister said, farmers are the bedrock of Canadian industry,” concludes Benoit. “It is no surprise that I wholeheartedly agree. And that is why this government will continue to follow through on the commitment in our first Throne Speech – to secure a prosperous future for Canadian agriculture.’
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