MLA for Morden-Winkler Carrie Hiebert is excited to introduce her first bill into the legislature this week, aimed at alleviating red tape for farmers.
A modernization of the current system
“Bill 228 (The Retail Sales Tax Amendment Act - Farmer's Identification Number) allows farmers to register for any farm ID number. It's similar to a GST number that just gives them tax exemption on qualifying purchases for their farm, and they don't have to worry about signing a declaration, except for once every two years. And I think that's the biggest part here is we're eliminating the paperwork for both farmers and for the Ag retailers or anybody to do with the agricultural industry. I think that's the number one thing here. We just want to make sure that we're taking away that paperwork, the red tape. That is what we want to do, we want to make life easier right now for our farming community.”
This just “makes sense”
Hiebert said this is a concern she has heard from her constituents, organizations, and other stakeholders in the community.
“One of the things I heard is we need to start moving forward and bring this into a more modern time where farmers have had to sign, or have somebody sign, every time they want to pick something up for the farm. Whether it's a nut or bolt or a tractor, there's so many different things farmers need throughout their busy seasons, this will make their life easier.”
Since she has introduced this bill, she has heard support from farmers and those in the retail Agriculture (Ag) industry that this attempt to modernize “just makes sense.”
Related stories:
- New website engages farmers in upcoming election
- CFA holds National Agricultural Leaders Debate on Thursday
The goal of the proposed change
“Basically, they'll get a number, and they just have to sign a declaration once every two years and then the retailer or the Ag business will keep that on file. It just makes things so much easier and smoother for everyone.”
Will others in the Manitoba Legislature support this bill?
“I think this is something that we can all support. I know that everybody wants to do the best we can for the farming community, for rural Manitoba, whether it’s my colleagues across the aisle or my colleagues on my side, we all believe in our farmers. We all want to make life easier and let them get to what they do best. I think we should all agree on this. We're not really changing anything drastically; we're just making it easier for them to get that exemption and not have to do the extra work.”
There are other pressures on the Ag industry
“This is a hard time right now with all the different things that are happening with tariffs. We just don't know from day-to-day with things changing so quickly. This is something we can do to let them know we're listening. We want to make life easier in some way.”
Her thoughts on creating her first bill
Hiebert said this is a bill she has been working on for a year,
“You bring forward what you would like to see happen and then it goes to drafters, it goes to the to the legal department of the legislature and we work together to kind of work on what I want to make sure I see come out of this and it goes back and forth a few times. I propose that I want this, and I'd like this and so we worked together as a team.”
Her colleague MLA for Portage la Prairie seconded the bill, showing his support for it in the Manitoba Legislature. She shared her appreciation for working on this with the team.