Agriculture Committee on Feb. 27th, 2020

[Paul Samson]

Right.

There are two parts to the answer there. The first one is who qualifies—

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

No, it's how many.

[Paul Samson]

How many depends a little bit on which commodities we're speaking of, because almost all commodities are included—but not all, so not every single farmer is eligible, but the vast majority are.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Do you have facts or figures based on the commodities that are eligible, and how many farmers would qualify?

[Paul Samson]

We don't have that exact number with us here, but we can come back to you with a number that describes out of those who are eligible to apply, meaning by commodity, how many do and what that total is. I do not have that number with me.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Do you have the number of how many farmers who qualify actually subscribe to the program?

[Paul Samson]

Yes, we do have that number, both in terms of the percentage and total. My colleague will provide it.

[Francesco Del Bianco, Director General, Business Risk Management Directorate, Programs Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It was 31% of producers who were eligible to participate in AgriStability, which represents approximately 56% of market revenues, and that figure is for 2016.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Kind of along the same lines of questioning, do you have the figures for how much money is put into the envelope for AgriStability each year?

[Paul Samson]

Yes, we do have that number. It goes back a couple of years for the final numbers, but we do have that number. I believe 2017 is the most recent year. Would you like to hear any particular year right now?

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Well, we can start with 2018, if you have 2018, or 2017, whatever the most recent is. Also, do you happen to have the cost of administering the program each year as well? Is that available too?

[Paul Samson]

Yes.

Go ahead with the 2017 number, and I'll come back on the cost.

[Francesco Del Bianco]

AgriStability is demand driven, so the amounts disbursed every year depend on the state of the sector. In 2016, it was $503 million, and in 2017 it was $219 million. There's an up to two-year lag in the way the program works and, given that some of provinces deliver the programs, it takes some time to have the full program figures, which is why we don't have more recent figures to provide to this committee.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay.

Mr. Chair, can I ask them to table those documents so that we can have those numbers?

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Yes, sure, if they wish.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

If you have those available, that would be great.

[Francesco Del Bianco]

With regard to the cost of the administration of the programs, the costs.... I'm almost there, my apologies.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

If they have them and want to table them.... Yes, you can just table the document, and I can continue my questioning.

[Francesco Del Bianco]

I'm sorry; I found them.

For Agrilnvest, the expenses account for 6% of the program. For AgriStability, it's 24%, and for Agrilnsurance it's 12%. In terms of absolute numbers for the 2017-18 program year, AgriInvest is $14.6 million, AgriStability would be $69.2 million, and Agrilnsurance would be $129 million.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

You also mentioned the western livestock insurance program. Has the government considered making this a permanent program rather than one renewed every few years? If so, have you considered expanding the program across the country to subscribe on a voluntary basis?

[Paul Samson]

Thanks, Chair.

We have been looking at this program in terms both of expanding it and of making it permanent. That decision has not yet been made, but it is certainly under consideration jointly with the provinces.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Excellent. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Now, we will go to Mr. Ellis for six minutes.

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

I used to sit on the veterans affairs committee, where we did a study on programs for veterans in other countries. I am wondering whether we have compared this program and our risk management programs with those of other partners, such as the U.S.A., Germany or any of our other counterparts with whom we trade. Do we know whether our suite of programs compares, and if not, what we should be looking at?

[Paul Samson]

International comparisons are always very difficult to do, to ensure that we're comparing one thing with another, because of the variation in commodities, regional conditions, etc. We have some comparators, but we tend to not really spend much time trying to compare one commodity with another, between countries.

We're certainly, on the other hand, very attentive to changes in other countries to trade rules, subsidies and the like. We watch those very attentively.

We could come in and talk specifically about international comparators, but we don't really have anything to share with you here today.