Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
National

Saskatchewan Residents Tell Consultation 'No' To Foreign-owned Farms

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Oct, 2015 10:59 AM
    REGINA — Nearly nine out of every 10 people who responded to a Saskatchewan government survey say they don't want the province's farmland to end up in foreign hands.
     
    Eighty-seven per cent of the more than 3,200 people who responded to a farmland ownership consultation say they don't support foreign ownership of Saskatchewan farmland.
     
    Seventy-five per cent also say they're opposed to allowing investors such as Canadian pension funds to purchase farmland in Saskatchewan.
     
    The issue of who can own farmland in Saskatchewan has prompted a spirited debate that was sparked after the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board started buying up farms in 2013.
     
    The rules currently don't allow institutional investors to own Saskatchewan farmland and limit foreign ownership to four hectares, but the investment board's structure made it eligible.
     
    The vast majority of people who took part in the consultations — 95 per cent — were Saskatchewan residents and 62 per cent of respondents were farmers.
     
    Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart says the results will ensure the government makes decisions for the long-term success and sustainability of the province's agriculture industry.
     
    Stewart says the next steps will be announced later this fall.
     
    The agriculture minister said in August that Saskatchewan won't impose restrictions on Canadians who want to buy farms in the province, but he wouldn't rule out anything else as the government looks at the laws on farmland ownership.
     
    Farmers have raised concerns about loopholes they say allow a variety of investors to drive up rents and farmland prices in the province.
     
    In their submission to the consultations, the National Farmers Union said that under today's laws, Canadian-owned investment companies are legally buying up farmland, a trend it says has turned Saskatchewan landowners into tenant farmers.
     
    The union has called for changes that would allow only Saskatchewan residents or incorporated farming operations owned by Saskatchewan residents to own farmland.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Mrs. Universe Ashley Burnham Tells Students At University Of Manitoba It's Important To Vote

    Mrs. Universe Ashley Burnham Tells Students At University Of Manitoba It's Important To Vote
    “Our future lies in the hands of the next government and also our children’s future, our grandchildren; we don’t want them to suffer," Ashley Burnham said Friday.

    Mrs. Universe Ashley Burnham Tells Students At University Of Manitoba It's Important To Vote

    Big Jackpot Awaits Final Winner Today In Chase-the-ace Craze In Cape Breton

    Big Jackpot Awaits Final Winner Today In Chase-the-ace Craze In Cape Breton
    About 25,000 people are expected to descend on Inverness today for the final draw in the popular weekly fundraiser.

    Big Jackpot Awaits Final Winner Today In Chase-the-ace Craze In Cape Breton

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom
    Thirty-nine-year-old Angie Robinson killed her herself on April 3, 2014, after taking the life of her autistic 16-year-old son Robert.

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says
    It sounds like an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is close — and when it's done, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he intends to disclose the details of what he's billing as the largest trade deal in history.

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.
    A man, a woman and a boy died in the pileup and as many as 20 vehicles, including four tractor-trailer trucks, were involved in the collision in the westbound lanes of the highway

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash
    31-year-old Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, 52-year-old Amarjit Kaur Bal and 46-year-old Sukhvider Kaur Punia were killed in March 2007 when a van struck a concrete median on Highway 1 near Abbotsford

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash