I just wanted to address the issue of land, quickly. I know that's an issue in speaking with young farmers across the country. The land bank system of tenure... I can see that a problem in looking at that would be that it would be a constant draw on federal funds to pay the difference between the seller's cost and making it affordable to younger farmers. So in looking at a system or a model such as a community land trust, it would only require a certain set amount of federal funds. If it were set up regionally, for example, in Nova Scotia, the government would have to put in an initial amount of money to purchase or accumulate farms from farmers, and that could also happen through donations. As soon as those farms were able to be leased out to other farmers, there would be an income coming in, which could then be recirculated into purchasing more farms, putting them into land trusts. This would protect the land and keep it in agricultural production while making it affordable to new farmers, while paying out older farmers at a rate that would allow them to retire and possibly stay on the land as long as they wanted to.
On May 12th, 2010. See this statement in context.