OFA Commentary #1807

Auditor confirms farmer claims

By Geri Kamenz, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

For years, farmers across Canada condemned aspects of the Canadian Agricultural
Income Stabilization program, and frequently called on government to make
improvements or scrap CAIS.

It was vindicating to see Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser coming down on
the side of farmers in her report issued recently. She said CAIS was excessively
complex, failed transparency tests and put some staff into situations of
conflict of interest.

Many of the 55,000 Canadian farmers participating in the CAIS program have
complained long and hard about the complexities of the program - many saying it
cost them more in accounting fees than the program provided in payments. An
estimated 80 per cent of applications are prepared by professional accountants
or other paid specialists.

Auditor General Fraser's report tells us that some of the 400 federal employees
who helped process farmers' applications worked on their own as paid consultants
to help farmers process their applications. Ms. Fraser said this is a breach of
the federal government's conflict-of-interest code.

Her report also detailed instances of unfair treatment of some farmers. When
processing procedures were changed, sometimes resulting in increased payments to
farmers, applications handled before such a change were not given similar
advantage.

Federal agriculture department officials have estimated overpayments to
producers at 28 million dollars while under payments amounted to some 15 million
dollars. This clearly illustrates why farmers and their organizations have been
justified in demanding changes to how the CAIS program is delivered.

Ms. Fraser's report also found that cases of 'zero payments' and payments below
the specified amount were not reviewed by the department, accounting for about
70 per cent of all applications each year. This finding raises the possibility
of vast numbers of applications getting less than just treatment.

Yes, farmers have been treated unfairly by the CAIS program and it is time to
make things right.

CAIS inefficiencies became part of the last federal election campaign with many
rural candidates joining the call for improvements to the program. Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada Minister Strahl has been aware of the problems with CAIS
since being named minister. He has joined the call for improvements to CAIS.

Minister Strahl welcomed the Auditor General's report because it provides
valuable support for initiatives to replace CAIS. Similar sentiments surfaced
around the table at the recent meeting of Minister Strahl and his provincial and
territorial ag ministers.

OFA has added its voice to a group of provincial farm organizations calling for
an audit of Agricorp, the provincial agency that delivers the CAIS program and a
number of other government programs intended to serve the farming sector. Many
of the complaints about Agricorp centred around a poor level of service to
farmers and their businesses.

When reports and payments arrive consistently late, it results in major
inefficiencies throughout Ontario's farming industry. Faced with increasing
international competition, Ontario farmers have to have access to the best
possible services from their governments if they're to remain competitive.

OFA applauds Auditor General Fraser for her report and Minister Strahl for his
plans to act on the findings in the report.