President's Message: A successful week in Ottawa
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I had a great week in Ottawa February 13-17 with 11
meetings over 3 days. I represented our
industry at the rural caucus breakfast chaired by T.J. Harvey and attended Farm
Credit Canada’s Agriculture Day on Thursday, February 16 in Ottawa.
Some of the key ‘ah-ha’ moments during my meetings with MPs
and various federal bureaucrats included:
- Recognition that the agricultural equipment
manufacturing industry is important. I
continue to be asked what our industry wants the government to do to help make
us stronger. Your feedback and
participation with the provincial advisory committees is VITAL. The committee chairs have each indicated they
will host their first meetings in the coming weeks. Please let me know if you want to be involved
in the advisory committees so you receive the meeting invitation.
- Agricultural equipment manufactured in Canada continues
to be regulated by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (formerly known
as Industry Canada) with new regulations being published in the Canada
Gazette. In December, AMC was alerted to
a regulatory change (related to Interference-Causing Equipment Standard
(ICES-002) that had been announced in 2013 that concerned members who
manufactured diesel engines. As such, AMC
sent a letter requesting that the department extend the transition period for another
year. The regulator, as a result of our input, extended the transition by
another year. AMC is now engaged with
the regulator and will be included in consultations moving forward. The extension can be found at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf10605.html
- The Canada Revenue Agency has in the past 5
years changed the administration and assessment of the Scientific Research and
Experimental Development Tax (SR&ED) incentive applications. I have heard complaints from members that the
process is complicated and there seems to be a lack of understanding of
incremental changes/improvements in our industry. As such, please provide me with examples from
the last 3 years of your experience with SR&ED as these will help us
advocate for changes. As I asked last
fall, I am still seeking your input on what an improved process would be. The rewarding of innovation whether by
SR&ED, or another tax incentive will be a key part of the submission we will
provide to the federal government this summer as part of its budget 2018
consultation process.
- Most, if not all, agricultural equipment
manufactured in Canada is NOT subject to tariff thus the current discussions about changes to the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are relatively limited in how they may
impact our industry. That said, I spoke
with federal officials about what may occur if the United States (US)
administration decided to ban imports from specific countries. I highlighted that our industry is very
export driven which also means we have some content that comes from countries
including but not limited to Mexico and China.The response was that it would be ‘unprecedented’ for an administration
of any country to target a specific country, however, the officials appreciated
hearing about the importance of an open Canada-US border. If you have delays or are challenged by
non-tarrif moving your products into the US, please let me know.
Last but not least, the federal government remains very
committed to reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. If you have examples of your organization
promoting or employing cleaner technology, please let me know as they will help
form the foundation for AMC’s 2018 budget submission. I will work with the provincial advisory
chairs to ensure our submission reflects the views of members and it will be posted
on the member portal of our website once finalized – likely in August.
If you want additional details of my meetings in Ottawa,
please call me: 306.522.2710 ext
225. Or perhaps I will see you next week
in London, Ontario when I’ll be presenting the latest industry data at our
breakfast with Farm Credit Canada on Wed., April 8.
Leah
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