APAS LAYS OUT FOREIGN FARMLAND OWNERSHIP CONCERNS IN COMPREHENSIVE LETTER TO SASK. PARTY

Sask. Party Has Been Soft on Foreign Farmland Ownership: Wotherspoon

REGINA – The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is sounding the alarm and calling for immediate action from the Sask. Party government on the issue of illegal foreign farmland ownership.

In a letter sent Thursday to Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison, APAS warns of “systematic challenges to farmland ownership” in Saskatchewan, as well as suspicions of “indirect forms of foreign ownership, including corporate structures and financial instruments”.

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“For 18 years, the Sask. Party has been soft on illegal foreign farmland ownership,” said Trent Wotherspoon, Saskatchewan NDP Associate Shadow Minister for Agriculture.

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“The loopholes in the government's approach to this issue are so wide you can drive a combine through. The Sask. Party needs to stop telling producers that they are wrong and start closing the loopholes.”

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APAS says that the “current regulations and enforcement measures require significant strengthening,” including through a lease registration system, stronger penalties and enforcement, monitoring corporate entities, audits of ownership records, and compliance declarations.

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The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on the Sask. Party government to stop dismissing the serious concerns of producers and immediately step up to work with producers and act with the reforms, resources and measures that will enforce the law and crack down on illegal foreign farmland ownership.

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“Saskatchewan producers are world leaders and the backbone of our province,” said Wotherspoon. “This is about ensuring a bright future for producers in Saskatchewan – so many multigenerational farms and ranches - and agriculture in our province.”

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