My name is Amanda Wildeman. I'm the Executive Director, and this is Ted Wiggans, President of the National Farmers Union in New Brunswick.
We are making this presentation today on behalf of our national organization. The National Farmers Union, NFU, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the finance committee's pre-budget consultations. The NFU is a voluntary, direct-membership, non-partisan, national farm organization made up of thousands of farm families who produce a wide variety of commodities across Canada.
The NFU recommendations aim to advance the individual and collective prosperity of family farmers and promote the valuable contribution of farmers to the economic, social, and ecological health of Canada and Canadians. The priorities appear in full detail in our longer submission, but we have some highlights here. They comprise rebuilding agricultural research capacity and adding new capacity to address climate change, including a national extension program; prioritizing public interest agricultural research; returning the Port of Churchill to public ownership; restoring the Canadian Grain Commission's funding to pre-2012 levels; implementing a producer-car receiver program under the Canadian Grain Commission's authority; reducing demand for safety net payments by championing orderly marketing institutions; assisting young farmers to become the next generation of family farmers; improving quality of life in rural communities; and reopening all prison farms and restoring funding to prison farm programs.