This Act lets eligible farmland owners in Western Canada apply to the Minister for transition payments, subject to a form and timing requirement and payment rules set by the Act and regulations.
An Act to provide authority to make transition payments to owners of farmland in Western Canada on which grain is grown Short title This Act may be cited as the Western Grain Transition Payments Act. Definitions In this Act, eligible area means the area comprising Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and those parts of British Columbia known as the Peace River District and the Creston-Wynndel Areas; (région désignée) farmland means land on which an annual crop of grain was cultivated during 1994 and land that was in summer-fallow during that year and on which an annual crop of grain was cultivated during 1993; (terre arable) grain has the meaning given that word by section 181.1 of the National Transportation Act, 1987; (grain) Minister means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food; (ministre) own means, in respect of farmland, to hold the fee simple in the farmland, unless another interest in the farmland is prescribed, in which case it means to hold that interest; (propriétaire) prescribed means prescribed by regulations made by the Governor in Council under section 6. (Version anglaise seulement) Persons who may apply A person who owned farmland in the eligible area at the beginning of the day on February 28, 1995 may apply to the Minister for transition payments. Form and time limit The application must be in a form approved by the Minister and be received by the Minister not later than September 15, 1995, or any later day fixed by the Governor in Council. Proof of ownership The Minister may require the applicant to provide proof of the applicant’s ownership of the farmland. Minister may make payments The Minister may make an interim transition payment and a final transition payment to an applicant if the Minister is satisfied that the applicant owned farmland in the eligible area at the beginning of the day on February 28, 1995 and meets the prescribed criteria and conditions. Payment deadlines The Governor in Council may establish deadlines for making the payments. Calculation of amounts The total amount of the interim transition payment and the final transition payment must be calculated in accordance with the regulations on a basis that reflects the productivity of the farmland and its distance from port. Tax treatment For the purposes of the Income Tax Act, a transition payment received in respect of farmland that is capital property of the applicant shall be considered to be an amount required by subsection 53(2) of that Act to be deducted in computing the adjusted cost base of the farmland to the applicant after the payment is received; a transition payment received in respect of farmland that was, immediately before its disposition by the applicant, capital property of the applicant shall, where the farmland is disposed of before the payment is received, be considered to be an amount required by subsection 53(2) of that Act to be deducted in computing the adjusted cost base of the farmland to the applicant immediately before the disposition; a transition payment to which neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies, received by the applicant, shall be considered to be assistance received in the course of earning income from a business or property in respect of the cost of the property or in respect of an outlay or an expense; and where, pursuant to an equitable arrangement referred to in paragraph 6(c), a portion of a transition payment received by an applicant is paid to a person or partnership that is leasing farmland from the applicant, that portion paid to the person or partnership is required to be included in computing the income of the person or partnership from a business for the taxation year of the person or partnership in which it is received and the amount so paid is deemed not to be a transition payment received by the applicant for the purposes of paragraphs (a) to (c). Payment limit and apportionment The total amount of all transition payments must not exceed 1.6 billion dollars and the total amount must be apportioned as follows: 16.10% for farmland in Manitoba; 56.42% for farmland in Saskatchewan; and 27.48% for farmland in Alberta and those parts of British Columbia known as the Peace River District and the Creston-Wynndel Areas. Appropriation The amount of 1.6 billion dollars is appropriated for the purposes of this Act, to be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund from time to time as required. Powers of Governor in Council The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act, including regulations prescribing interests in farmland for the purposes of the definition own in section 2; criteria to be used by the Minister in deciding whether applicants are entitled to transition payments; conditions to be met prior to receiving a transition payment including the condition that an equitable arrangement must be made by an applicant in respect of any person who or partnership that is leasing the farmland that is the subject of the application for the transition payment; and how interim and final transition payments are to be calculated, including which port is to be used for the purpose of determining the distance of farmland from port.