Canadians officially celebrated 150 years of Confederation on July 1. This was an important date to mark because creating a national narrative is essential to nation-building. Since no nation on the planet is unblemished, we need to learn from our dark spots in history and make corrections as we move forward to build a better future.
This holds true for agriculture as well. Canadians also celebrated 150 years of our agriculture industry. The federal Department of Agriculture was born on July 1, 1867. It鈥檚 now called Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada encompassing not just food production, but also manufacturing and sales. And while the technology and knowledge base has expanded, sociology research shows that some Canadian social and cultural attitudes towards farm producers have changed little over the past century and a half.
This derogatory attitude was on full display this spring when Premier Brad Wall clashed with the PM over the carbon tax. Wall was staunchly defending the province鈥檚 producers who will be unfairly hit by Ottawa鈥檚 carbon plans. Prime Minister Trudeau鈥檚 鈥測our farmers鈥� rebuff to Wall illuminated his attitude to Saskatchewan agriculture as part of the problem rather than recognizing it as a major contributor to carbon capture. Moreover, Trudeau, like many of his urban-dwelling Cabinet members, continues to propagate century-old misconceptions about an essential industry that employs 2.2 million Canadians and brings $100 billion to the federal coffers each year. No selfie is going to fix his image about agriculture.
Trudeau鈥檚 undervaluing of the Saskatchewan agriculture industry stems from over a century ago when Ottawa began luring the world鈥檚 farmers to settle the Prairies. New lows were reached when these hardworking farmers, especially immigrants with different languages and cultural traditions, were called insulting names questioning their intelligence. Ottawa may claim to celebrate diversity but this label on farmers stuck for many decades.
Nowadays, it鈥檚 simply ludicrous to label producers as simple-minded. Most famers have university degrees or training in professional trades. Modern farming requires multi-tasking and multiple skills from managing croplands and cattle herds to balancing finances and understanding global sales markets.
Saskatchewan agriculture has been undervalued, particularly in Canada鈥檚 east, because the narrative for the last 150 years has been about the east鈥檚 urban elite, policy makers, financial institutions and agricultural middlemen exploiting the Prairie鈥檚 agricultural production. A century ago, farmers around Mossbank initiated a political movement to take back some ownership of the decision-making on agricultural marketing and pricing. Commenting on Canada 150 recently, ex-Reform Party leader Preston Manning touched on this east-west showdown that often characterizes Canadian political relations. He noted that the last decades have seen the maturing of the Western provinces to be on equal terms with the east in political and economic clout.
Saskatchewan may no longer be a 鈥渉ave not鈥� province, but Canadians generally still don鈥檛 value agricultural labour or its products as highly as other industries like oil and entertainment. We complain about prices going up at the grocery store, but we seem willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for tickets to watch the Riders or on weekend trips for a NHL game or Justin Bieber concert.
As we head to the country鈥檚 200th anniversary, it鈥檚 time to change the narrative about Canadian agriculture and for Canadian ideals to include valuing farm producers. One lesson from 150 years of farming history is that our PM and the agriculture ministry have to do a much better job of marketing the economic and social value of Saskatchewan agriculture. Farmers can then stop being exploited and take ownership of their industry. Producers need to start being respected as industry experts and stewards of the land because they are concerned as much about conservation and resource management as they are about production volumes and making a profit. Over 150 years, Canada gained a reputation as the 鈥渂readbasket of the world鈥� suppling domestic needs and now 190 other countries. The ag industry has to be valued accordingly.
