We call ourselves a distinct society. Some of us want to split from Canada, and even Stephen Harper thought it would be smart to tell us that we form a nation.
Quebecers believe we’re quite different from the “rest of Canada.”
The farmers among us are no exception.
Is there really a distinct “Quebec model of agriculture?” That’s what it’s called by Christian Lacasse, president of the Union des Producteurs Agricoles (UPA), Quebec’s one and only farm organization.
Read Also
Youth focused on keeping Quebec’s dairy industry strong
In part two of our Making the Future series, Country Guide spoke with Béatrice Neveu from Rawdon, Que. (Read part…
Let’s start with the numbers.
In 2006, Quebec farmers received
$851 million in government payouts. That was more than Ontario’s $662 million, but less than Alberta’s $945 million and Saskatchewan’s $1.267 billion. (Yes, we were in the midst of a grain crisis at that time, you’ll say. But experts predict the big picture for 2008 to be the same.)
What will surprise many critics outside Quebec is that the support isn’t mainly from Ottawa.
In fact, in 2006-07, the federal government spent more money for overall support to the agri-food sector in Ontario ($759 million), Saskatchewan ($1 billion), and Alberta ($923 million) than in Quebec ($527 million). Manitoba got just a little less ($522 million).
Federal dollars represented only 35.5 per cent of government support to agrifood in Quebec. This is far lower than anywhere else in Canada, with the exception of Newfoundland.
In Ontario and Saskatchewan, over two-thirds of government support came in a pipeline straight from federal taxpayers. In Alberta, it was nearly half.
Federal support in Quebec was also in line with other provinces when compared to overall ag output. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada statistics, federal transfers in Quebec equalled 15 per cent of the province’s $3.5 billion farm GDP in 2006, compared to 18 per cent of Alberta’s $5.2 billion, 31 per cent of Saskatchewan’s 3.4 billion, and 24 per cent of Manitoba’s $2.2 billion.
La terre de chez nous
If Quebec farmers have weathered past and existing crises better than others, it’s to a great extent because their provincial government is much more involved in agriculture. The Quebec government supports its farmers twice as much as other provinces.
The other reason Quebec agriculture has been faring well in recent years is because a greater part (40 per cent) of its production is under supply management. About 38 per cent of all Canadian
