The Canadian Press
Globe and Mail
DELHI, Ont. — Ottawa is giving tobacco farmers more than $300-million in a long-awaited effort to help them give it up the practice for good, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Friday.
The money is to finance a federal exit strategy to help farmers find new crops and get out of the tobacco industry altogether, said Immigration and Citizenship Minister Diane Finley, who represents the tobacco-rich riding of Haldimand-Norfolk.
“Tobacco producers and their families will be able to bring closure to what has been a very stressful time,” Ms. Finley said in a statement.
“This program is available to help producers exit the industry, transition to other crops, or find new opportunities outside agriculture.”
The announcement was made in
Not everyone was thrilled with the news, which follows long-standing demands by area farmers for upward of $1-billion to help get them out of the tobacco business.
“The unique challenges tobacco farmers are facing have never come with easy solutions,” Mr. Ritz acknowledged.
“As you know, farming is a business but it's also a proud way of life that goes back generations ... these funds will help those who wish to continue to produce to do so under a new provincial licensing system.”
He said the money is coming from the fine of more than $1-billion levied by an Ontario judge Thursday against two of Canada's largest tobacco companies.
Some $286-million is being provided for the Tobacco Transition Program, plus $15-million for community development initiatives “to help communities transition to a non-tobacco-based economy.”
The money, he added, comes with “no strings attached.”
Imperial Tobacco and Rothman's Benson & Hedges were hit with the fine – the largest of its kind in Canadian history – after the companies pleaded guilty to charges related to cross-border cigarette smuggling in the 1990s.