Transitioning these farms to provincial governments is a step in the right direction, one MP said
When Parliament resumes this fall, the Conservatives are committed to holding the government accountable for its closure of multiple research farms.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilevre on Sept. 7 told reporters “Yes” when asked if there would be more action from the opposition on this file.
A reporter asks Poilievre about research farms at 25:40.
It was in January that the federal government announced it would close seven research sites across the country as a way of supporting the prime minister’s goal of reducing overall spending by 15 per cent over three years.
Since then, multiple industry groups have spoken out against the closures.
And in June, the Canadian Society of Soil Science released a petition protesting the decision.
The Conservatives have made the research farms a topic of discussion this summer.
In August, Poilievre visited the site of the 600-acre Nappan Research Farm in Nova Scotia which opened in 1887.
“The Liberals are not only shutting down the farm but they’re culling the cattle,” Poilievre told reporters on Sept. 7.
About 130 cattle from the research farm sold at auction earlier in the spring with more scheduled to be available this fall.
The federal government and a provincial government are exploring options at keeping two research farms operational.
Ottawa and Saskatchewan signed an MOU in July to transition the Indian Head and Scott Research Farms to provincial jurisdiction.
While that’s a step in the right direction, it doesn’t mean the government gets a pass on the file, said Steven Bonk, a rancher and the Conservative MP for Souris—Moose Mountain.
“We’ve had producer groups from across the country come and be witnesses at the agriculture committee, not one of them are in favour of this,” he told reporters Sept. 7 alongside Poilievre. “So, that’s something as Conservatives you’re going to hear a lot more from us on.”