With cooperation and even dialogue between the provincial and federal governments exceedingly rare in 2023, the launch of the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) is a welcome exception to the rule.
Whether this provincial-federal initiative will lead to other partnerships remains anyone’s guess. What is known is that anything that can be done to support the vital agriculture industry in this region and elsewhere in the province is good news for the community-at-large.
The SCAP will bring more than half a billion dollars in funding over the next five years to support grant programs that will help Alberta’s agriculture and agri-food sector. Nationwide, the funding will top $3.5 billion.
Specifically the program is aimed at creating jobs, supporting value-added processing competitiveness, attracting more investment, and boosting irrigation capacity.
Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says helping promote food production in Alberta helps the province as a whole.
“The SCAP is an ambitious way forward while we collaborate to ensure economic, environmental and social success for the sector,” said Bibeau. “This historic investment will help producer and processors in Alberta to innovate, to grow, to prosper and to be competitive.”
Nate Horner, Alberta’s minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, says the SCAP will help producers “grow their business and improve productivity while addressing the unique challenges of farming in Alberta” and will also help the province's farmers “feed the world while protecting the environment for generations to come.”
Under the program, which comes into effect this month, producers will have access to “an enhanced suite of business risk management programs to help them manage significant risks that threaten the viability of their farms and are beyond their capacity to manage,” say officials.
With the Smith and Trudeau governments engaged in long-running battles over everything from gun control to resource development to health-care spending, it is nice to see this encouraging example of cooperation in support of the vital agriculture and agri-food industry.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
