Tories accuse Liberals of reneging on $4.3B CETA support deal
No compensation in budget for farm producers affected by EU trade pact
The Liberal government is reneging on the Harper government’s $4.3-billion promise last year to support supply-managed agricultural producers after the finalization of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, says the Conservative Party agriculture critic.
Chris Warkentin, MP for Grande Prairie-Mackenzie in northern Alberta, said the March 22 budget made no provision for the previous government’s commitment to Canada supply-managed producers, who will lose some tariff and quota protection when the CETA deal takes effect in 2016 or early 2017.
In October, the Harper government announced a 15-year, $4.3-billion deal to cover supply managed agriculture, including dairy, poultry and egg producers, affected by the CETA and TransPacific Partnership (TPP) trade deals.
But the spending was never authorized by the former government, meaning the Liberals are not bound to fund the compensation package. International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says the compensation package is under review, although Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has promised the dairy sector would be compensated for losses resulting from the implementation of CETA and TPP trade deals.
“One of the things that was absolutely expected in this budget was the compensation framework (for the $4.3-billion promised to supply-managed agriculture),’’ said Warkentin. With no funding for the compensation package in the budget, Warkentin said the omission raises a couple of questions.
“Is CETA, in fact, not going to be ratified or are dairy farmers going to be left out in the cold? Maybe they’ve decided to pursue different policies as it relates to dairy farmers. More concerning, there’s a possibility that the finance minister just didn’t talk to the ag minister or the trade minister,’’ Warkentin added.
“This budget had pretty much nothing for farmers, nothing for the agriculture industry,’’ Warkentin said.
In fact, the only support being given to the agriculture sector in the budget is “tens of millions of dollars for Ottawa bureaucrats to study animal genetics,’’ Warkentin said.
“Every single time that the budget indicates it’s going to do something for agriculture, it’s investments in bureaucrats and civil servants,’’ Warkentin said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean anything for the average farm family.’’
The budget allocated $30 million over six years for agriculture genomics research, as well as $41.5 million for federal research facilities in five provinces, including Saskatchewan. The budget also set aside $38.5 million over two years for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to increase inspection of ‘highest-risk’’ domestic and imported foods
Reint Dykstra, Dairy Farmers of Canada vice-president, also noted the absence of the compensation package for dairy producers in the budget. “There’s no mention of compensation in the budget at all and that is extremely disappointing,’’ Dykstra told an online news service last week.
The dairy industry estimates the CETA deal alone will cost producers $300 million in market losses.
A copy of Warkentin’s reaction to the federal budget was sent to MacAulay’s office in Ottawa, but no reply had been received as midafternoon Monday.