Agriculture ministers and farmers are concerned about the “loosely defined” environmental requirements on agriculture from implementing the federal Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP).
Image courtesy of CBC
On April 1, the SCAP takes effect, but Saskatchewan did not sign the new 5-year agreement as it needs to go in front of the Saskatchewan cabinet in February for approval.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit met with his fellow provincial and territory agriculture ministers on a conference call and expects all the provinces and territories to sign SCAP by the end of March when the previous five-year agreement ends.
Marit and the other agriculture ministers are “concerned about the environmental aspects” of federal agriculture policies and their effect on farming operations.
Western Canadian Wheat Growers Saskatchewan Director Daryl Fransoo said farmers need more details about SCAP and that the government needs to stop putting “ideological beliefs” before feeding people.
“There’s sooo few details out about it right now that I’m trying to figure out to say. A few priorities are good but tying absolutely everything to sustainability when we haven’t even defined that is foolish,” said Fransoo.
“Food will be more scarce and way more expensive if the government continues to impose their ideological beliefs on our farming system.”
Farm fields
Courtesy Jim Niakaris on Unsplash
In the new SCAP, the AgriStability compensation goes up to 80% from 70% in the previous agreement, which is a positive aspect of the new agreement, according to the agriculture ministers.
Each province signs its own SCAP agreement with the federal government, as some programs only apply to certain areas and not the entire country.
At the agriculture ministers July meeting in Saskatoon, they were reviewing business risk management programs and how climate risk needs to be included in a complete risk management program.
Starting in 2025, any farm taking part in the AgriInvest programs with at least $1 million in sales will require an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) to receive the federal government’s contribution.
Marit said he “hopes the provinces have some control on how the assessments (EFP) are done.”
Other than the new SCAP, Marit is concerned about the federal non-binding policy of reducing fertilizer by 30% and why farmers are “not credited” for the reductions they already made.
Another issue concerning Marit is the cost of food in the grocery store and the development of a Grocery Code of Conduct (GCC), which is currently underway.
The GCC’s purpose is to make the food supply chain more predictable, transparent, and fair to consumers.
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Quebec Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne in a statement said “substantial progress they have made in developing Canada’s first-ever Grocery Code of Conduct.”
Christopher Oldcorn is a Saskatchewan Reporter for the Western Standard & Saskatchewan Standard.
He studied at the Centre for Investigative Journalism at Goldsmith’s, University of London and served as editor-in-chief of the SaultOnline.
What business does the Feds have in provincial agriculture or the environment. The Feds have grabbed as much power as they can and continue to grab more.
It is time to stop this madness.
The feds scope in constitution is very, very limited and it is about time the provinces told Ottawa which bus stop to get off at.
Don't sign any deals with Ottawa ever, no matter who the government is. The constitution clearly outlines the areas of jurisdiction.
In addition to increased federal guidelines, there is a serious concern over the reduction in fertilizer use. There are environmental issues, however, there are even more concerning food sustainability/security issues.
Large scale farming operations (almost all farming is corporations) produce the majority of food in Canada that is destined for both domestic and export. This does not discount smaller (SME) operations which are a critical link in food security however have little of no influence over "deep think" government plans.
Stats Can even noted that while SME's may account for a substantial portion of employment, they only accounted for about 5.8% of agriculture, mining etc.
Thus it would appear that while corporations are the majority, food production and security is a concern affecting all Canadians and many countries receiving exports. There may be a very real cause for being very wary regarding PM Trudeau or his government comprehending the depth of the issue.
Perhaps he simply believes if the Dutch government can do it - his government cannot be outdone and having demonized protests, feels secure in this approach.
Don't sign ANYTHING this regime puts forth. Hold off. They are looking to destroy the very fabric of the nation. Use your shielding provincial Acts. Delay, defer, prevent.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
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(4) comments
What business does the Feds have in provincial agriculture or the environment. The Feds have grabbed as much power as they can and continue to grab more.
It is time to stop this madness.
The feds scope in constitution is very, very limited and it is about time the provinces told Ottawa which bus stop to get off at.
Don't sign any deals with Ottawa ever, no matter who the government is. The constitution clearly outlines the areas of jurisdiction.
Blessed are the farmers. They give me steak that I grill on by BBQ. And the missus says vegetables are good for you too.
In addition to increased federal guidelines, there is a serious concern over the reduction in fertilizer use. There are environmental issues, however, there are even more concerning food sustainability/security issues.
Large scale farming operations (almost all farming is corporations) produce the majority of food in Canada that is destined for both domestic and export. This does not discount smaller (SME) operations which are a critical link in food security however have little of no influence over "deep think" government plans.
Stats Can even noted that while SME's may account for a substantial portion of employment, they only accounted for about 5.8% of agriculture, mining etc.
Thus it would appear that while corporations are the majority, food production and security is a concern affecting all Canadians and many countries receiving exports. There may be a very real cause for being very wary regarding PM Trudeau or his government comprehending the depth of the issue.
Perhaps he simply believes if the Dutch government can do it - his government cannot be outdone and having demonized protests, feels secure in this approach.
Don't sign ANYTHING this regime puts forth. Hold off. They are looking to destroy the very fabric of the nation. Use your shielding provincial Acts. Delay, defer, prevent.
Welcome to the discussion.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.