Agriculture and Forestry Minister Eric Hammill said today that NDP leader Herb Dickieson either doesn't understand the agriculture disaster assistance program or he is deliberately misleading producers. Mr. Hammill was responding to criticism that the provincial government is saving money by using the federal program only to compensate producers facing financial difficulties.
"In fact, federal funds are being used to enhance the existing program the province had in place and to increase payments to producers," said Mr. Hammill. "Producers will be receiving funds from a combination of both programs in order to provide them with the most benefits. Without the new federal-provincial assistance program, we simply would not be able to respond to all the needs."
Mr. Hammill said that all existing funds in the provincial Agriculture Disaster Insurance Program will be spent, and that the provincial government has also committed an additional $2.4 million to the disaster insurance programs. "This funding, along with the federal share, will enable us to support farmers in these difficult times to a much greater extent than we would have been able to do without the new program," he said. "Far from being shortchanged as Dr. Dickieson has said, producers will be receiving much more from the combination of both programs. How he could arrive at the conclusion he did is quite inconceivable."
Mr. Hammill said Dr. Dickieson appears not to understand how the two programs will work, and that he displays an acute ignorance of even the most basic program details. For example, he said, producers do not pay any premium for disaster assistance programs. He also said that the provincial program covers areas not included in the joint program, and that would provide more benefits to producers.
"To suggest that the provincial government is reneging on its commitment to help producers facing financial difficulties is very misleading," said Mr. Hammill. "Before federal funding became available, the provincial government had already committed close to more than $4.5 million to safety net programs, with approximately $1.0 million of that to the hog industry alone. When it comes to responding to the needs of hard-hit producers, this government responded in a responsible manner by doing everything possible."
Mr. Hammill said that staff of the department would be more than willing to brief Dr. Dickieson and other members of the Opposition. "This is an important matter for our farmers and we want to be sure the right information gets out," he said.