Mandryk: Sask. agriculture minister's denials on foreign farmland ownership bizarre

[LEP]

Don't fool yourself when you look at your net worth. Estate taxes like in the UK and US are coming.

That is how governments will pay for Trudeau's mess.

[shtferbrains]

Equity growth in agriculture has been a bright spot in the stagnant economy.
Low hanging fruit for governments buying votes from those tiny spots on the map that elect the LPC?

[LEP]

Absolutely. Most Canadians have no tie to the farm. They don't care if your farm reaches 3, 4 or 5th generation intact.

[blackpowder]

That would only be in the hands of the respective generation.
For one to succeed, another must fail.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Would just like to thank Chuck for starting this thread about agriculture, and for initiating the very interesting discussion that ensued.

It appears you are making progress with your TDS. Not even a single mention of Trump in this thread until now. That may be the first time you have managed that since the election.
Keep up the good work.
I will keep supporting you in your battle.

[Landdownunder]

Not exactly 100% sure on this in Oz every rural property over 5mill by a foreign investor needs approval and used to be 1 mill for houses probably changed

[farmaholic]

Regarding the threads original theme...

Where there is a will to circumvent the rules, there is always a way.
Especially if those rules are rarely or poorly enforced. Loop holes?
And if those rules have no consequence, what's the deterrent?
Offenders may be a step or two ahead of Authority.

If it's even possible, follow the money. Good luck.

[SmallTimeOperator]

The Farmland Security Board needs more staff, more money, and more legislated teeth to even hope to enforce the current legislation.

The onus needs to be changed to the new purchaser needing to prove citizenship before the transaction happens. Also, the onus needs to be on the purchaser to prove the source of the funds being used before the transaction closes. This would mean every land transaction in the province needs board approval.

This needs to extend to farmland leasing, and also to operating capital used to fund operations. There should be a requirement where every farm has to prove where their operating cash or loan has come from. Foreign operating cash is as big or a bigger problem than the ownership of farmland itself.

And by more legislative teeth, how about jail time for someone acting as a front for foreign money. And also confiscation of all capital gains if a foreigner out of the country is involved in a transaction.

[LEP]

The Farmland Security Board needs more staff, more money, and more legislated teeth to even hope to enforce the current legislation.

The onus needs to be changed to the new purchaser needing to prove citizenship before the transaction happens. Also, the onus needs to be on the purchaser to prove the source of the funds being used before the transaction closes. This would mean every land transaction in the province needs board approval.

This needs to extend to farmland leasing, and also to operating capital used to fund operations. There should be a requirement where every farm has to prove where their operating cash or loan has come from. Foreign operating cash is as big or a bigger problem than the ownership of farmland itself.

And by more legislative teeth, how about jail time for someone acting as a front for foreign money. And also confiscation of all capital gains if a foreigner out of the country is involved in a transaction.

Right. Vet 40,000 land transactions a year plus loan transactions? That's right up there with CRA volume of monitoring.

In fact I bet that is more than what is auditted by CRA in a year. The rest is monitored by computer and only anomalies see human eyes.

[farmaholic]

STO, to some extent it's too late unless the rules are enforced retroactively. The horses have already left the stable.

Was it simply lack of foreign and out of province ownership that kept Sask land prices at a discount to Alberta and Manitoba's? Or Was it simply economics, until grain farming became more profitable? In my opinion Alberta land prices were propped up by excess oil money sloshing around looking for a home. Manitoba land prices may have had an edge because of productivity. That being said, there are always areas within each province that had higher land prices than others in the same province.

Has foreign ownership of Western Canadian farmland been on the provincial radar in Alta and Manitoba as it has in Sask?

[blackpowder]

No, SK always had a different culture.
Chatted with an old boy from Yorkton yesterday that reminded me of that.

[shtferbrains]

It's been said cattle always do best in the shade of a pump jack.
Even better if they are ulta high priced purebred.