On the heels of demands that Ottawa pitch in to subsidize the Mad Cow losses in Western Canada, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein tells Feds to back off on any sharing of this year’s windfall oil profits in Alberta.
June 8, 2003:
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein accuses the federal government of a double standard because Ottawa relaxed employment insurance rules for workers affected by SARS in Ontario but not for Western beef industry workers. “We think the federal government should treat B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and wherever beef is produced the same as Ontario,” he said.
June 9, 2003:
Western premiers say Ottawa should provide $360 million in compensation to help the cattle industry recover from lost revenue from the mad cow scare.
March 29, 2005:
The federal government will give farmers $1 billion to help them through hard times brought on by a high Canadian dollar, low prices, drought and the closed border with the U.S. Payments will begin next month and the sum will be split between grain and oilseed producers, and cattle farmers. Farmers have received about $2 billion in mad cow relief since last March, but the industry is expected to be in the red again for what will be the third year in a row.