Protecting Our Roots in Agriculture
Planted, cultivated and harvested by local farm families, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector is one of the most successful and sustainable in the world and it should be lauded not punished for this achievement.
Agriculture is an incredibly valuable pillar of our nation’s economy, and a vital key to our economic recovery. While we celebrate the successes of today, we must also look to the future keeping a keen eye to the pastures beyond and the next crop to grow.
Our young farmers are an important part of our successful agricultural industry. Generational farmers and ranchers are key to our food security, and the reason to preserve our land and rural way of life for the next generation of producers and consumers alike.
However, in Canada, family farms are disappearing at an unsustainable rate due in large part to punitive Liberal government policies.
As our country struggles with record high inflation, cost of living and food prices, so too do the financial burdens take their toll on family farms. Harmful Liberal policies like the carbon tax, fertilizer tariffs and emissions reductions and prioritizing activist voices over proven science continue to threaten the economic viability of Canadian agriculture.
There is a stark contrast in approaches to agriculture and agri-food and deplete generational family farms from our rural communities.
Conservatives are proud of our farm families and the fact they embrace innovation and technology to improve efficiency, reduce emissions and protect our water, soil and precious ecosyetems. Our farm families do more with less, and Conservatives see modern Canadian agriculture as part of the solution.
In contrast, the Liberals and NDP look at farmers as part of the problem punishing them with punitive taxes, regulations and making decisions based on activism not science.
I have seen first-hand how farmers today struggle under the carbon tax, and could be made worse with the new Liberal Underused Housing Tax. The crippling Liberal carbon tax, for example, is set to triple. According to the 2023 Canadian Price Index, when the carbon tax triples the average 5000-acre farm could face more than $150,000 a year on this tax alone. Add to that the newest Liberal tax, the Underused House Tax, targeting homes on farm and rural properties could end up costing farmers thousands more in paperwork and potential fines.
Liberals are prioritizing activists over farmers through decisions not based on science, such as their harmful emissions reduction targets. According to CFIB, 72% of farmers will be forced to reduce their yield overall food production if the Liberal fertilizer reduction policy is mandated. Our farmers have worked hard to be sustainable, efficient and innovative in their use of fertilizer. In fact, they have reduced emissions and improved yields and they have done so without government intervention, without carbon taxes because it is the right thing to do.
This Liberal policy is not about the environment, it is about tax revenue.
Our farmers should be celebrated for their innovation and sustainability instead the Liberals are putting their economic sustainability at risk.
As a father, I want to see my children live their best life, in the best world where they have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our generational farmers are the same, working hard every day to take care of their land so their children can plant and prosper.
Achieving this goal is out of reach under Liberal policy. Canada needs policies to support family farms, not force our farmers and ranchers to walk away from the land they love and labour. To do so, we must prioritise agricultural prosperity, unleash its potential by repealing the destructive policies implemented over the last eight years by the Liberals.
I will fight for our farmers, calling on the Liberals to stop impeding the sustainability and success of our family farms. Losing more than a family farm a day is simply not sustainable. Our next generation of farmers depend on us today to ensure they can grow tomorrow.
