The Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program is alive, but
with a much-reduced budget.
And it’s going to be first-come, first-served until the
funding runs out for a program aimed at helping organizations implement good
programs.
The funding will also be restricted to projects with national
impact; previous programs encouraged provincial and regional initiatives.
The local administration by farm organizations, which has
been consistently praised in Ontario for doing an outstanding job, has been cut
out. Now the decisions will be made in the federal agriculture department in
Ottawa.
In other words, the Tories will have their fingers meddling in the pie whereas before it was a coalition of farm organization leaders.
In other words, the Tories will have their fingers meddling in the pie whereas before it was a coalition of farm organization leaders.
The program began with $240 million for five years, that was
cut to $163 million for the next five years and now the budget is $50.3 million
for the next five years.
In a news release, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the
funding will go to those who:
- “seize opportunities” —
that is, to take advantage of a situation or circumstance to develop a new
idea, product, niche, or market opportunity;
- “respond to new and/or
emerging issues” that were “unknown or not a concern before;” or
