Agriculture Committee on May 26th, 2026

[Ben LeFort]

Speaking as an economist, I would say yes. I would agree with what MNP has said as well, but there's also a perception at the farm level. One thing we heard from members is that to even participate in the program, they need to hire an accountant or an adviser because navigating the paperwork was often complex, particularly when we had issues like the reference margin limitation within the AgriStability program.

Anything we can do to increase simplicity of the program will make it more equitable for smaller farms, which may not have the resources to hire advisers to help them through the program.

[Emma Harrison, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

You have two minutes and 10 seconds.

[Emma Harrison, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

I want to give my time to Mr. Epp, if possible. I'd like him to finish that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

That's very kind of you.

Mr. Epp, you have one minute and 57 seconds.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

I'll continue with MNP on the simplification aspects.

What ideas would you have to simplify the program, yet also address the diversification issues at the farm level?

Mr. LeFort just mentioned the reference margin limitation. There's also the whole structural adjustment mechanism, which is sometimes hard to understand.

Are there any specific ideas that you would put forward to the committee?

[Marvin Slingerland]

There are a few.

First, on things like, say, the structural change, they don't publicize how that's calculated. More communication and more transparency are needed on where these numbers come from. Give producers the ability to look at doing their own calculations on some of these.

On the second one you talked about, there are approved tax filers in Canada. If we file a tax return, CRA receives it and administers the refund. I think AgriStability can go through a program where, if there are approved filers in the country and proper information is filed, you should be able to issue the payment to producers immediately, instead of having a process where it goes through administration levels to double-check it. I think there are ways to get money to producers faster.

AJ, is there anything you want to add to that?

[Akaljot Singh Gill]

I would add that a project has been put forward by Farm Management Canada on how to file a simplified filing through CRA. That would be something we would be supportive of. You can look at that.

There are a lot of efficiencies you can look at through the current process, which are in place to streamline and cut costs both to the farmers and to the administrators. One of the key examples would be that most farmers right now have gone away from the legacy farming, where there weren't a lot of loans and stuff. The farms were family-run and handed down. Now, most farmers have loans against their farms, and all financial institutions require you to get accrual financial statements. If there were a mechanism whereby farmers could keep their cash filing as is but submit their accrual financial statements, that would simplify things for intake and for processors.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to thank our witnesses, both online and in person, for being here.

We will suspend now for five minutes and come back in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]