NEWS RELEASE

  May 30, 2001                                                                                                                   For Immediate Release

  STATISTICS CANADA REPORT SHOWS GOVERNMENT HAS DONE TOO LITTLE TO ADDRESS THE AGRICULTURE CRISIS IN SASKATCHEWAN

"The government will claim the farm situation is improving, when it’s actually getting worse."

OTTAWA - Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville and Deputy Agriculture Critic for the Official Opposition, used his limited time in the House of Commons to criticize the Statistics Canada report on farm incomes that was published yesterday.  The report claimed net farm income was up 15 per cent.  However, Saskatchewan remained unchanged reflecting the fact crop receipts were at a 6-year low.  Fuel costs were up 29 per cent and are increasing again this year, fertilizer costs have steadily increased, and interest costs rose 15 per cent.  “The situation is actually getting worse, not better,” said Breitkreuz.

Here is the statement Breitkreuz made in the House:

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, how can we expect the people who provide us with top quality food to live on less than $7,000?  That is what the average Saskatchewan farmer earned last year.  Today's headlines show how dismal the government's efforts are in addressing the farm income crisis.  The Free Press headline blared, "Farm Income Falls for Third Year". Input costs like fuel and fertilizer are rising every day making the picture even darker.  Keystone Agricultural Producers predicted," Eventually (farmers are) going to quit.  You need to get a return or you can't stay in business."  These numbers hide the real hardships farm families are going through.  Last week a government minister told prairie farmers to start growing potatoes.  Two weeks earlier another government minister told P.E.I. farmers to quit growing potatoes.  My question for the Prime Minister is this.  When can farmers expect the government to take some real action on the farm income crisis and not give out conflicting advice from confused ministers?  Does he really think $7,000 per year is enough to live on?

  The Statistics Canada report says that overall net farm income rose by 15.3 per cent to a total of $7.1 billion dollars.  "These numbers are leading the public to believe that the crisis is over.  My concern is that the government will use this report as an excuse to do nothing.  We desperately need programs that are properly designed to bring stability to the farming sector. A careful analysis of this report indicates the farm crisis is deepening.  Do you know of any family that can survive on $7,000 a year?” asked Breitkreuz.

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