Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) President Ron Bonnet says he's pleased with what he saw in Wednesday's federal budget announcement.
"I think there's a lot of positive mention for agriculture coming out of this budget," he commented. "I think what we were watching for to see if there was some signal that the government was listening to the advice of Dominic Barton, the economic advisor, and that came through fairly strong."
Highlights for Bonnett included the Liberals setting targets of $75 billion a year in ag exports by the year 2025, looking at food processing having access to the Strategic Innovation Fund, and access to more training funds for ag workers.
Other highlights included launching a full review of rail service across western Canada, creating a $10.1 billion Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative, eliminating tariffs on a broad range of agri-food processing ingredients, investing $500 million to support the expansion of broadband networks in rural Canada and $2 billion to support rural infrastructure including roads and bridges.
Source : Steinbachonline