(OTTAWA) – As the new session of Parliament begins, Canadians farmers are looking to the Speech from the Throne for some sign this government recognizes the severity and urgency of financial crisis facing the agri-food industry. With farmers from across the country preparing to gather on Parliament Hill on Wednesday the industry will be listening closely to see what message the government has for farmers.

“The meeting of agriculture ministers last week offered no sign of hope for farmers. With the Speech from the Throne the federal government has a prime opportunity to demonstrate it is committed to working with industry to address this unprecedented farm income crisis and helping farmers move towards long-term financial sustainability,” said Bob Friesen, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).

Based on comparisons of realized net farm incomes (RNI) over the past four years to the average RNI of the previous decade, CFA has calculated there is currently a $6.1 billion deficiency in national farm income. Including 2006 Canadian farmers are experiencing the worst four years on record for income, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada economists predicting farm income in 2006 will be even worse than in previous years. By contrast farmers in the U.S. are having their best four years.

In the Speech from the Throne the agriculture industry will want to hear the government declare that agriculture is a key industry for Canadians, for its contribution to our economy, for its role in sustaining rural communities, for food security and for its contributions to health and the environment. The government needs to state publicly it is in the national interest to ensure the industry remains strong and continues to contribute to the benefit of all Canadians into the future. And farmers will want to hear the government commit to addressing the immediate farm income situation and developing long-term programs that work, and to ensuring a balanced outcome that benefits all agricultural sectors at the World Trade Organization negotiations on agriculture.

“Thousands of farmers will be gathered on the hill because they are frustrated and desperate. There was no talk at the recent ministers meeting about how to effectively deal with this crisis. The only idea the ministers came up with to address the income crisis was to increase costs to farmers by applying an application fee to the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) program,” said Friesen. “Our governments need to ask themselves: are they prepared to see the Canadian agriculture industry decimated on their watch?”

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