Trossachs farmer Norman West thought the AIDA program had kicked in for him with a final payment for 1998, when he saw the letter from their administration in his mailbox.

But when he opened it he found a bill instead. He owed AIDA $964.20 for an overpayment on his interim cheque.

"I guess it was kind of a shock, especially when it was from the program of 1998. I assumed they would do this right, not make a mistake and bill me back," said West.

West says he found glaring errors in the way AIDA calculated his repayment. For example, they listed some trucking income from 1995. West says he had no trucking income in '95; he recorded the trucking premium paid by most elevator companies on grain tickets.

West says if the trucking premium is not allowed as eligible income, then every farmer in Saskatchewan will receive a bill.

"I've appealed it to the AIDA board in Winnipeg," says West. "I'll have to pay some of it, but there's no way I should have to pay for the trucking premium."

Despite his bad experience dealing with the largely criticized AIDA program, West is optimistic he will win his appeal on his 1998 claim. As for 1999, "I got $0. I think probably a lot of farmers received $0."

Ellen Funk, a representative from AIDA administration in Winnipeg, said as claim handlers were processing 1999 forms they were checking 1998 applications to verify if there were under or over-payments.

"People who are getting notices may be producers who got interim payments, which were based on an estimate, so they may be in a situation where they have to pay some back," Funk said.

AIDA administration started processing interim payments for 1999's program in January and February. In June they started to issue final payments.

To date 3,441 claims from 1999 have been processed in Saskatchewan out of 25,000 received. The total payment value so far is over $1.63 million.

"We did get off to a slow start in terms of processing applications. The bulk started to be processed fairly recently," said Funk.

Kathy Nicholas says AIDA is off to a very slow start. The Francis area farmer, who is also an accountant, says she's had her 1999 AIDA application in since April and hasn't been able to wade through the bureaucracy to find out what happened to it.

"I've been talking with the finance department since Sept. 4. They can't tell us if we're getting a payment or how much. It's just really been an experience in frustration," she said.

Nicholas says she was told the processing of her claim began at the end of July. She waited three weeks, contacted the AIDA office, and was told they hadn't completed the processing. She continued to call every week after that, and was eventually told the finance department would have her payment out in two weeks.

"Now it's seven weeks later and I still can't get any information out of the system," she said. "Our interest charges are racking up. Our creditors are not so patient anymore. And after all is said and done we still don't know what we're getting out of the program."

Nicholas was one of six farmers who met with Prime Minister Jean Chretien during a brief campaign stop in Regina on Oct. 31.

She was invited to the meeting by Saskatchewan MP and Minister of Natural Resources Ralph Goodale, who she had been in contact with regarding her AIDA problems.

"Telling the Prime Minister about my AIDA nightmare, that was my main topic of concern," said Nicholas. She said all six farmers at the meeting spoke to a different but key issue burdening farmers.

"I hope this is just the beginning, that it's going to open the door to more discussions with producers in the future. He got a more hands-on feeling for what's going on with producers down here," Nicholas said.