While much of the focus during the Saskatchewan Legislature’s two-week sitting will primarily be focused on COVID-19, SARM is looking forward to discussing farm issues with the provincial government whenever possible during the session.
President Ray Orb says a major issue for SARM continues to be the federal carbon tax, something the provincial government remains opposed to.
Orb says the federal tax is imposing a hefty burden on producers in an already difficult time.
“We’re trying to resolve this issue telling the federal government they should be rewarding farmers in Saskatchewan rather than penalizing them,” Orb said. “The extra costs for drying grain with propane and natural gas — even just the cost to operate farms — that extra tax is something we certainly don’t need at this time.”
One thing Orb would like to see resolved is the Agri-Stability funding being negotiated by the federal and provincial governments across Canada. Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister David Marit says the current plan would have a tougher impact for taxpayers in smaller provinces such as Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and would like to see the federal government contribute more than the proposed 60 percent.
Orb says this needs to be resolved for the benefit of farmers across Saskatchewan.
“In essence, Saskatchewan needs to contribute 40 percent of the share that goes into the Agri-Stability fund and we know that Ottawa is looking at making some changes and it could be retroactive to the beginning of this year, so that would help our farmers,” Orb said. “This would need commitment from our treasury to be able to do that.”
orb also called on all levels of government to work on a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, also encouraging residents to follow provincial guidelines to limit the spread.