U.S. Farm Bill Just Tip of Iceberg

By now you've heard about the new U.S. farm bill that threatens to drive down world grain prices and cost Canadian farmers dearly. Legislators in the U.S. are quickly passing the new farm law before the 2002 Congressional elections. The new 10-year law will abandon the reforms of the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act (the goal of which was to phase out counterproductive crop subsidies) and instead escalate U.S. farm subsidies to new heights.

The initial cost projection for the new legislation was $171 billion, which would cost the average American family $4,400 in taxes and inflated food prices over the next decade. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently admitted that it had underestimated the cost of the farm bill by $6 billion.

Even worse, according to a recent study by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, taxpayers in that country (and farmers here) may be facing even bigger food subsidies than that. Researchers at the Foundation found that the CBO accounting error, coupled with gimmicks legislators have designed to camouflage their spending, means the true cost may be two or three times the original estimate - between $271 and $381 billion!

And who said the Americans are free traders There's nothing free about $381 billion in U.S. domestic farm subsidies over the next decade.

B.C. Government Joins the Treaty 8 Tax Fight

Back in March, Federal Court Justice Douglas Campbell ruled in Benoit v. Canada that Treaty 8 Indians and their descendants will never have to pay federal taxes ever again. The case involved a group of natives from northern Alberta, who claimed their ancestors had been promised a total exemption from all taxes when they signed Treaty 8 in 1899. The ruling affects about 35,000 status Indians from northern Alberta, B.C., NWT and Saskatchewan, but has obvious implications for the tax treatment of other aboriginal people who will no doubt press to be tax-free if the ruling is left to stand.

Thankfully, the feds have appealed the decision. The case is set to be heard this November in Ottawa by the Federal Court of Appeal. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been there from the get-go to argue that the potential damage to the social, economic, and political fabric of the country caused by exempting certain individuals from the responsibility of paying taxes because of their ancestry could be enormous. The Alberta government has also been there to argue about the potential effects on provincial taxes and Ontario is rumored to be considering getting involved in the case as well.

To its credit, the B.C government has just announced it too is jumping into the case with both feet. The B.C Attorney General has filed a motion with the Federal Court seeking to intervene in order to address certain constitutional issues and the impact of the case on treaty and land claim negotiations in that province.

The question for people in Saskatchewan remains: why has our provincial government chosen to remain silent No doubt the case has serious implications for our province if the decision is ultimately extended to other treaties and other individuals based on birthright. If you have a minute, how about calling or e-mailing Sask Justice Minister and Attorney General Chris Axworthy and asking him directly. His office number in Regina is 787-5353 and his e-mail is: [email protected]