In our meetings with Finance, the Prime Minister's Office, and the agriculture minister, it was noted that family farms are not a target of these changes, but we are struck by the magnitude of the changes required and the time available to make those corrections.
We have two recommendations to address the concerns of the farm sector.
The first is that Finance Canada commit to a clear process with farm stakeholders to address these concerns, focusing on, first, exempting legitimate farm income from the new income sprinkling rules because they cannot be applied fairly in the context of a family farm; and, second, exempting qualified farm property because the new rules are detrimental to farm transfers and are inconsistent with current farm transfer tax rules. Finance Canada must extend this arrangement over 2018 to ensure that any unintended or unforeseen consequences following the new legislation can be immediately addressed.
Second, the implementation of these proposals must be delayed until no earlier than 2019, and any transitional rules must be further refined to avoid unintended consequences.
I thank you and look forward to your questions.