Ontario Hansard - 21-June-2006

ONTARIO FARMERS

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): My question is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. I was pleased yesterday when you stood in the Legislature and expressed your concern that foreign countries have created an uneven playing field for farmers in Ontario. But the farming community and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture have been calling on you for months to put a freeze on the BSE CAIS clawbacks, just as the federal government has done in provinces where they administer the stabilization program. The inaction of your government is most definitely creating the uneven playing field for the farming community in Ontario.

My question is, when will you finally address the CAIS clawbacks with Ontario farmers and give them the even playing field with farmers across Canada that they deserve?

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): I'm happy to have the opportunity to clarify for the honourable member exactly what the clawback is about. When BSE occurred, money was advanced to certain farmers, and when the calculation was done it was realized that there was an overpayment. So farmers came to our government and said, "Rather than do what other provinces that don't administer CAIS have done" -- they have employed collection agencies to go after their farmers for the overpayment. Our farmers have said, "Please don't do that. When there is a payment due, simply deduct the amount owing from our payment that's going out." That is the agreement we have reached with our farmers.

When you talk about a level playing field and treating farmers in Ontario fairly, we have sat down and talked with them and that is what they have asked us to consider. We think that is a great advantage --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. Supplementary?

Ms. Scott: It's the OFA that has requested this. The federal government has put a moratorium on this clawback because right now farmers are in need; they can't pay the bills. So the OFA and farmers have asked, in this time of need, that that clawback be delayed, as the federal government has done.

Minister, will you commit today to put a hold on that clawback, because right now the farmers need the money? The federal government is part of that program, and they have done that in the provinces where they administer the stabilization program.

Hon. Mrs. Dombrowsky: I have had the opportunity to speak with the president of the OFA and to remind him that the arrangement we have in place in Ontario is a result of requests from the farming community. This is what they wanted. They did not want collection agencies going after them.

In addition to that, the federal government has said they're going to suspend the requirement to pay interest until December of this year, while the province of Ontario has not charged, does not now intend to nor will it charge interest on those overpayments. So we believe, as the farmers in Ontario believe, that they have negotiated a reasonable agreement. If the honourable member wants to call my office and ask for a briefing on this, we would be very happy to provide it. We would have provided it to you before today so that you would have had this information. When it comes to a level playing field, we believe the way we are working with farmers in Ontario is --