August 9, Ottawa – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is pleased to see the announcement from the federal government initially earmarking $100 million for drought relief through AgriRecovery and the Alberta government’s announcement of $136 million for drought-stricken Alberta livestock ranchers, including a request for an additional $203 million from the federal government for a total relief package of $339 million for Alberta farmers.
“The CFA is pleased to see both levels of government step forward and show their support for farmers in these very trying times” said Mary Robinson, CFA President.
“The drought in Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario have had devastating impacts on grain producers and livestock producers in these regions and these assistance packages are encouraging signs, but clearly more funding is needed to address the situation across much of Canada,”
“So we are calling on the Manitoba, Saskatchewan, BC and Ontario governments to follow Alberta’s lead and do a quick assessment of the damage done by the drought to their respective agriculture sectors and develop AgriRecovery assistance packages for the affected producers in those provinces as well,” continued Robinson.
“As AgriRecovery is a joint federal-provincial cost sharing program, we expect the federal government to provide its share for all AgriRecovery assistance requests by provincial governments.”