 Another of the UFA 's policies called for a single tax on land to replace most other forms of taxation . The farmers hoped that this tax would help replace tariffs , which made it harder for them to export their produce , and shift the tax burden towards cities , where land values were higher . They also called for a surtax on undeveloped land to curb land speculation and encourage the sale of land to farmers . On this demand too , Sifton acted : in 1911 – 1912 he allowed municipalities to levy property taxes and required that rural municipalities tax only land , and in 1914 he imposed a provincial tax on undeveloped land to discourage land speculation . Other UFA @-@ motivated acts by Sifton 's government included abandonment of a 1912 plan to privatize hail insurance ( it instead enacted a municipal insurance scheme ) and the prohibition of contract clauses that allowed farm machinery companies to avoid responsibility for their products . Perhaps the most important piece of farm legislation passed by Sifton 's government was the incorporation of the Alberta Farmers ' Co @-@ operative Elevator Company ( AFCEC ) . Though the UFA 's first preference was for government ownership and operation of grain elevators , which Sifton refused , it gladly accepted the AFCEC , in which only farmers could hold shares and which was supported by provincial startup loans . 
