Agricorp challenge heads back to the courts in July

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

The group of 85 farmers involved in challenging Agricorp’s move to collect government program overpayments is proceeding with its case and will be back in court this summer, says their lawyer Don Good.

Good says they will be in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa to file a motion to make Renfrew-area producer Peter Tippins as the representative farmer “and then bringing the application.”

There are more than 85 farmers interested in the matter, he says, but “that’s what officially joined the group.”

The hearing is scheduled for July 11.

Good said in an interview earlier this year they’re asking the courts for an interpretation of Section 16 of the Limitations Act to determine if Agricorp has an unlimited time limit or a two-year time limit to recover program overpayment funds. He said in the previous interview only the Crown has an unlimited time to recover funds from program overpayments.

They’re asking the judge to interpret the section of the Act to determine whether Agricorp “is the Crown or a Crown corporation, which has different time limits,” he says.

Agricorp says in a May 10 update posted on its website that it is a government agency governed by the Financial Administration Act and according to the Limitations Act 2002 “there is no limitation period on the over payments Agricorp is responsible to collect.”

Good says the case “won’t deal with the specific aspects of any farmer’s case.”

Agricorp spokesperson Stephanie Charest says “we cannot discuss any matters that are before the courts.”

Last year, Agricorp changed the way it handles overpayment accounts. It said there were 4,500 farmers with overpayments totaling $30 million. About 75 per cent of farmers with overpayments had accounts of less than $5,000. The overpayments occurred when farmers got more money than they were eligible for under business risk management programs, Agricorp’s update says. They resulted from incomplete program applications, processing mistakes, changes to farm operations or the nature of programs.

Some farmers’ accounts are much higher than $5,000. Good said in the previous interview more than one farmer involved in the legal challenge has overpayments of $500,000.

Charest says Agricorp posted an update on the overpayment collections because it has been a year since the agency announced the changes to the way it was handling overpaid accounts. “Since then there has been a lot of interest in the topic so we felt we should be accountable for keeping people updated.”

Previously, farmers could pay off their overpayments from future program payments. They can still do that now as long as the entire balance is paid off in three years, which started from 2012 and finishes in 2015.

Interest began to be added to the overpayment accounts in January. The interest rate is set quarterly by the Ontario Finance Minister and is currently at three per cent, the same as it was for the first quarter of this year.

In the May 10 update, Agricorp says as of January, farmers with overpayments started receiving monthly statements to keep them informed of the balance they owe and the interest charges.

To date, more than 70 per cent of producers with overpayments have paid their outstanding balances or committed to a repayment plan. Charest says so far more than $16 million has been paid back out of the original $30 million that was owed.

Agricorp ‘s May 10 update says farmers who don’t agree with a decision can file a request for a review by calling Angela Carson, manager of program quality assurance and performance standards, at 1-888-247-4999, extension 3691. For farmers concerned about Agricorp staff’s professional and ethical manner in handling their account, they can send a confidential email to: ethics@agricorp.com and a senior manager will follow up the concern.

Charest says farmers with financial concerns should call Agricorp to talk about their repayment options. BF