Federal budget measures for P.E.I. spud sector 'bittersweet' for head of potato board

Bags of Prince Edward Island potatoes are unloaded from a transport truck, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

CHARLOTTETOWN -

The head of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board says he has mixed feelings about the $28 million earmarked in the new federal budget to help the Island's potato farming sector.

Board general manager Greg Donald said he's still looking for details about the funding, but he said any help is welcome after a disastrous fall and winter. "It's bittersweet because this has been so hard, on costly expenses and on people's nerves," Donald said in an interview Friday. "And it never should have happened."

Potatoes grown in the province were cleared for export to the United States last week for the first time since the discovery of potato wart fungus at two Island farms prompted Canada to ban all exports of P.E.I. spuds to its southern neighbour in November. Potato wart is an otherwise harmless disease that disfigures potatoes and reduces crop yields.

The federal budget tabled Thursday earmarks $16 million over two years for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, through the national Jobs and Growth Fund, aimed at investments in the potato sector. Another $12 million is set aside for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to accelerate its investigation into the latest detection of potato wart.

Donald said the inspection agency's lab in Charlottetown is "maxed out" with work from all over the country.

"If these resources allow them to have more capacity to get those samples, get them tested, and once again prove that our potatoes are perfectly safe, that's good news for us," he said.

Seed potatoes, which account for about 10 per cent of the Island's annual output, are still banned from the U.S. until the outcome of a more thorough review by American authorities. There is also a Canadian ban on seed potato shipments to other provinces. "That's where we have a lot of work left to do," Donald added.

Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King chimed in Thursday night after federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the budget in Ottawa. King said in a release his government was "pleased" with the money, adding it came after "many months and numerous conversations" with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other senior ministers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2022.