PROMISE TO FARMERS KEPT BY MP GALLANT; GOVERNMENT REPLACES CAIS

July 05, 2007

COBDEN, Ontario – Cheryl Gallant, MP (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke), highlighted a new vision for the agriculture, agri-food and agri-products industry – Growing Forward, an agricultural plan for Canada and underscored the federal-provincial-territorial agreement to replace the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) Program.

“Canada’s New Government made a promise to Canadian farmers and we have kept that promise. We have replaced CAIS with programs that are simpler, more predictable and bankable,” confirmed MP Gallant.

Growing Forward will replace the current Agriculture Policy Framework, which is set to expire in 2008. In the transition some existing programs will be retained, some will be modified or ended, and some new programs will be introduced. This will be done in consultation with industry to ensure a smooth transition and to avoid disruption for program participants and delivery partners.

The business risk management programs that replace CAIS include:

• AgriInvest, a program where both producers and governments contribute to a producer’s savings account that will allow producers to easily predict the government’s contribution and have the flexibility to withdraw funds to help address declines in income or to make investments to improve farm profitability.

• AgriStability, a program that provides support when a producer experiences a decline in farm income of more than 15 percent.

• AgriRecovery, a disaster relief framework which provides a coordinated process for federal, provincial and territorial governments to respond rapidly when disasters strike, filling gaps not covered by existing programs.

• AgriInsurance, an existing program which includes insurance against production losses for specified perils (weather, pests, disease) is being expanded to include more commodities.

Additional program details and funding options for AgriRecovery will be developed over the summer. Producers will receive more details on the new programs this fall, while a number of changes to AgriStability and AgriInsurance have already been made and improvements will continue on an ongoing basis.

“In each of the last two budgets, our Government has increased spending on agriculture by $4.5 billion and has already committed $2 billion to improve programs, including a $600 million payment to kick start the AgriInvest accounts and a $400 million direct payment to address high production costs, which has already started flowing to producers” concluded .

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For More Information Please Call Cheryl Gallant, M.P. at (613) 732-4404