Tobacco Buyout Now in Doubt, Finley Says

Source from:  The Brantford Expositor 12/05/2008

Last summer's buyout of tobacco quota is in doubt now that the Opposition in Ottawa is poised to topple to the Harper government. In an interview Tuesday, Haldimand- Norfolk MP Diane Finley was unable to guarantee that $300million in buyout money would flow if the Conservatives were replaced by a coalition of Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois. "A Conservative government is determined to deliver this money," Finley said. "This money will flow once the province and the (Ontario Flue Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board) decide what to do in terms of dismantling the tobacco quota system. What the socialist-separatist coalition might do in this situation I don't want to speculate. That's why we are pressing so hard on this issue." In August, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Ottawa would pay $1.05 per pound to retire 271 million pounds of tobacco quota. The program affects nearly 1,500 individuals and farm families in Norfolk, Brant, Elgin, Oxford and Middlesex Counties. Finley said that Tuesday was a day of high emotion in the House of Commons as party leaders traded barbs on the pros and cons of a coalition government replacing the ruling Tories. Finley, who is the minister of Human Resources and Social Development in the Harper cabinet, said the Tories. MORE INSIDE OPINION: Don't stop Parliament / A10 LOCAL:Mc- Coleman on coalition / A2 NATIONAL:GG hurries home / A9 have not settled on a response to the challenge because "events are unfolding hourly." Conservatives are especially interested in learning more about the role the separatist Bloc Quebecois might play in a new government. The latest information Finley has is that the Bloc will have veto power over all spending bills. Ottawa's spending in areas of provincial jurisdiction has long been a bone of contention for Quebec sovereigntists. Enditem