Losing Our Grip: . . Saskatchewan's "Land-Grabbers"

[Oscar]

Losing Our Grip - 2015 Update

[ http://www.nfu.ca/issues/losing-our-grip-2015-update ]

Erosion of farmer autonomy and land ownership in Canada

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”We need the Lands Protection Act to protect us from the incredible wealth of people who live just beyond our borders and see our land as nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold, like silver or gold. - Horace Carver, Q.C. | Lands Protection Act Commissioner, PEI (2013)

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In 2010 the National Farmers Union published a major report called “Losing Our Grip: How Corporate Farmland Buy-up, Rising Farm Debt, and Agribusiness Financing of Inputs Threaten Family Farms and Food Sovereignty”. With our 2015 update, we are revisiting that report to see how the situation has changed.

Read the full Losing Our Grip - 2015 Update report
[ http://www.nfu.ca/sites/www.nfu.ca/file ... te_med.pdf ]

Download a PDF of the Executive Summary
[ http://www.nfu.ca/sites/www.nfu.ca/file ... 0Final.pdf ]

Related information - Land grabbing and land concentration: Mapping changing patterns of farmland ownership in three rural municipalities in Saskatchewan, Canada by Annette Aurélie Desmarais, Darrin Qualman, André Magnan, Nettie Wiebe
[ http://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca ... le/view/52 ]

- Who should own land in Saskatchewan? by Annette Aurélie Desmarais, Darrin Qualman, André Magnan, Nettie Wiebe
[ http://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/h ... nsultation ]

Saskatchewan Government Consultation on Farmland Ownership - online survey, mail-in survey, deadline August 10, 2015.

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Executive Summary:

A recent Agriculture and Agrifood Canada survey [ http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pw ... report.pdf ] confirmed that Canadians want and expect farmland to be owned and worked by the local farm families, individual farmers, producer co-ops and intentional communities who farm the land. But this system is under serious threat by corporations and investors –including some of our own pension funds [ http://www.cppib.com/en/public-media/ne ... -2013.html ] – that are seeking greater control over Canada’s agriculture and a bigger share of the wealth that farmers produce.

As in 2010, the issue today is not only a matter of who owns the farmland, but of farmer autonomy and control. The men and women who produce our food need to have a stable, resilient economic base that will allow them to make good long-term decisions for their farms, our food system and our environment. When farmers are in a position to make long-term decisions they can put sustainability of ecosystems ahead of immediate revenues. Long-term thinking is also concerned with community-building, which enriches Canada’s diverse land-based cultures. It provides both the ability and the motivation to retain the knowledge and skills of farming in the next generation. Long-term thinking also deals with protecting the land, water and atmosphere for future generations by acting now to slow down and reverse climate change.

MORE:

[ http://www.nfu.ca/issues/losing-our-grip-2015-update ]

[Oscar]

LEGISLATION FOR FARMLAND OWNERSHIP TO BE INTRODUCED

[ http://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/n ... egislation ]

Released on October 20, 2015

Today, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart introduced amendments to The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act. The legislative amendments will clarify who can own farmland and will provide the Farm Land Security Board (FLSB) with more authority to enforce the Act.

“This summer, we asked the people of Saskatchewan to share their views to help us inform our decision on farmland ownership,” Stewart said. “They did, and as a result we are making changes that will keep farmland accessible to Saskatchewan’s farmers and ranchers. I am pleased to announce that we are clarifying the rules around farmland ownership in the province.”

Legislative amendments to The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act will enshrine the regulations introduced in April as law.

Amendments including:

•Making pension plans, administrators of pension fund assets and trusts not eligible to buy farmland;

•Defining “having an interest in farmland” to include any type of interest or benefit (i.e. capital appreciation), either directly or indirectly, that is normally associated with ownership of the land; and

•When financing a purchase of farmland, all financing must be through a financial institution registered to do business in Canada, or a Canadian resident.

In addition, the FLSB will receive new and expanded authority to enforce the legislation, including:

•At the discretion of the FLSB, any person purchasing farmland must complete a statutory declaration;

•Placing the onus to prove compliance with the legislation onto the person purchasing the land;

•Increasing fines for being in contravention of the legislation from $10,000 to $50,000 for individuals and from $100,000 to $500,000 for corporations; and

•Authorizing the FLSB to impose administrative penalties to a maximum of $10,000.

“Our government understands that to many in the province, farmland is not just an asset,” Stewart said. “It is a connection to our history and who we are as people. Farmers and ranchers want the opportunity to own the land they farm.”

Through the consultations, the views of more than 3,200 individuals, businesses and organizations were heard. Overwhelmingly, the majority voiced support for making pensions and large investment trusts ineligible to purchase farmland, and limiting the ownership of farmland to Canadian residents and 100 per cent Canadian-owned corporations.

The complete results of the consultation are available at [ http://www.saskatchewan.ca/farmland ].

Following passage of the legislation and regulations, the new rules are expected to come into effect by the new year. -30-

For more information, contact:

Sarah Hein, Agriculture
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5389
Email: sarah.hein@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-527-9102