With so much uncertainty in the world right now, especially in the agriculture sector, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the Canadian government needs to focus on what it can control.
Canadian farmers are facing plenty of uncertainty when it comes to the trade landscape, prices of inputs and uncertain supply chains, said government relations expert Carla Ventin, but one thing they can influence is how the government is starting to recognize agriculture and agri-food as a matter of sovereignty and security.
“You’re hearing from (the prime minister), and the actions from his government, we cannot be sovereign if we don’t have energy security or food security, and so there’s one mandate letter very much focused on the traditional centre of sovereignty, but now he’s looking beyond that,” Ventin said during the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) annual general meeting in Whitehorse in early July.
WHY IT MATTERS: With unprecedented levels of uncertainty facing Canadian agriculture, farmers are encouraged to be aware of key ongoing issues on the national and global stage.
Ventin, along with Brodie Berrigan, senior director of government relations and farm policy with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, and Francis Drouin, former member of parliament and senior advisor with the Capital Hill Group, spoke to the current national and geopolitical issues that Canadian seed growers are facing, noting several significant government discussions that farmers should be paying attention to.
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