There are billions of dollars worth of promises for farmers in the budget that Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented Monday.
There is $3.9 billion for dairy and poultry farmers, including a guarantee for quota values.
That total includes $250 million already promised to offset dairy-industry impacts related to the free trade agreement with Europe.
The rest is for the impact of the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement. There is no mention of compensation when the World Trade Organization’s ban on all subsidies for exports comes into effect.
The budget has $1.5 billion for the promise to guarantee quota values will not sink below pre-TPP levels. That’s similar to the promise Stephen Harper and his Conservative government made before election defeat.
What other business in Canada has a government guarantee for investments? This is crazy!
There is also a vague promise for help for processing companies that use supply-managed products.
The budget also has $5.2 billion, starting with $134.4 million over the next five years, to develop and implement a national food policy.
The $134.4 million funding includes:
- $50 million for a local food infrastructure fund;
- $25 million for a Buy Canadian promotion campaign;
- $15 million for a northern isolated-community initiatives fund, backing local food projects, skills training and community freezers and greenhouses, etc.;
- $20 million toward a Food Waste Reduction Challenge grant plan, and
- $24.4 million to boost federal capacity for detection of and enforcement against food fraud.
