President's Message: A successful week in Ottawa

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

Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada