The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Trudeau is Leaving Canadian Farmers Behind

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprint. It is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your

00:00:06.600 host, Jamie Schmail, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Court, the likes Brock. Thank

00:00:10.660 you very much for joining us today. As I said, every single week, new content every Tuesday,

00:00:16.760 1.30pm Eastern Time. We thank you. You are the hardcore, you're sticking with us and

00:00:20.900 we will provide you that content, allowing you another side of the story, something you

00:00:25.540 might not hear from the mainstream media. We have a great show for you lined up today.

00:00:29.720 I know I say that every week. This week is even truer than ever before because we have

00:00:35.160 a topic that I think hits almost every riding in Canada in some way. We're going to talk

00:00:40.720 agriculture momentarily, but we need you to get this message out. Help us push back against

00:00:46.140 the ever-moving Liberal Agenda by liking it, commenting, subscribing, sharing this program.

00:00:53.100 If you can't listen to it all in its content today, you can download it on platforms like

00:00:58.680 CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it. It is out there. We do appreciate

00:01:04.120 that. Without further delay, we do have the guest, Leanne Rood. She's the Member of Parliament

00:01:09.060 for Lanton, Kent, Middlesex in southwestern Ontario. She's also the Shadow Minister for

00:01:15.080 Agriculture and Agri-Food. We thank her very much for joining us today.

00:01:19.580 Thank you, Jamie. Good to be here.

00:01:21.000 Well, this is a big topic. Like I said, I think no matter where you live, urban, rural, agriculture

00:01:25.580 affects every single Canadian. And I must say there were pretty much seamless efforts to ensure that

00:01:33.560 our food was flowing, our supply chains were strong, and our grocery stores, even though we're in the

00:01:39.440 middle of a pandemic, remained strong with food on their shelves.

00:01:44.280 Absolutely. And we really do have Canadian farmers to thank for that. They're very hardworking and they

00:01:49.620 worked with labour shortages this spring. They worked against all odds. We had some inclement weather

00:01:55.360 in some areas of the country and they really are true heroes for all Canadians.

00:02:00.240 Now, there were some issues at the beginning because growing season is very short in a lot of

00:02:05.160 cases. And when farmers rely on seasonal agriculture workers to help out on their farm and off air,

00:02:13.020 you and I were just talking, about 60,000 of them come into Canada every single year to help ensure

00:02:18.760 that our fruits and vegetables and other items are getting out of the ground and into the next

00:02:24.240 chain of events, so to speak. So why don't you talk a bit about that and the importance of the

00:02:31.260 seasonal agriculture workers to our industry as a whole?

00:02:36.740 No, you're so right. What most Canadians don't realize is that we rely on a lot of folks who come

00:02:43.000 up from the Caribbean, from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, from many countries to help produce food

00:02:49.220 in Canada. It's mostly in the fruit and vegetable industry and we do have upwards of 60,000 or so

00:02:54.140 people who come to help ensure that our farmers here have the labour that they need to be able to

00:03:00.000 plant their crops, to harvest their crops, package goods that go into grocery stores right across the

00:03:08.200 country. So they are an integral part of the food supply system in Canada. And a lot of times we don't hear

00:03:16.180 the positive aspects of what these folks bring to the table, but these are folks who want to come to

00:03:21.960 Canada. They want to work. They want to help Canadians. And then they actually bring the money that they make

00:03:27.820 home to their home countries. And the good news story is that Canadians help. It's part of, if we think about

00:03:34.840 it as an international aid program, Canadians are helping folks come in, help us with our food production

00:03:40.680 here in Canada. Those folks bring the money home. They help supply needs to all of their extended family

00:03:46.560 members. I've heard of folks building schools in their home communities. So there's a lot of good

00:03:51.920 news stories that come out of the food production that we see here in Canada and the workers that come

00:03:57.060 to help us. Now, farmers in general, I think they are world leaders, especially in Canada, in embracing new

00:04:04.100 technology and new ways of doing things. So it helps reduce their footprint, so to speak, within the

00:04:11.180 environment. And every time I speak to a farmer or I speak to people in advocacy groups, they're always

00:04:18.900 talking about the use of technology, the use of innovation to make them even better and more

00:04:24.560 efficient. No, you're absolutely right. When we look at packaging produce, for instance, that's what I grew up

00:04:31.440 in. I grew up in the produce world. So we have robotics now in our packaging systems. There's fully

00:04:38.180 automated packing lines with grading machines that are fully computerized and automated. There's so much

00:04:44.120 technology built into agriculture now that it does take out some of the need for the folks that we can't

00:04:52.420 find when we have a labour shortage. But it also helps production go faster and make sure that we can

00:04:58.220 continue to be consistent with all the food security and health and safety guidelines that

00:05:06.000 most packing houses have to go through. So we have technology from GPSs and combines and planters that

00:05:12.620 help precisely navigate a tractor, for instance, in the field right down to a GPS point. So if you're a

00:05:20.040 farmer who's planting many varieties of a crop in a field, you know exactly where it is. There's auto

00:05:26.260 steering components on a lot of the equipment that farmers use. There's machinery that needs welders

00:05:33.920 and we need millwrights to work and keep all the equipment up. Mechanics, there's farm trucks, there's 0.96

00:05:40.140 lots of equipment that needs to be serviced. So when people think farming and agriculture, it's not what

00:05:46.540 you used to think. It's actually very high tech now and we require a lot of skilled labour to be working

00:05:51.720 in agriculture. Yeah, I think that's kind of a topic that gets overlooked in some cases. When you are a

00:06:00.680 farmer today, it's not you plant the seed and you walk away. There are so many different facets to that

00:06:06.360 operation. You're a mechanic, you're almost a trader in some aspects. You're an engineer, you're an

00:06:12.820 environmentalist, you're a conservationist, and the list just keeps going on. So it isn't just one

00:06:18.320 thing a farmer does. It's a whole series of events within the trade that make it a very noble

00:06:25.400 profession. And something I think the industry in general, along with other industries like skilled

00:06:31.740 trades and that sort of thing, getting the younger generation into that line of work is something I

00:06:38.600 think we have to work at as a federal government, provincially, territorially, even municipally,

00:06:44.160 because I think we're coming to a time when the number of farmers very soon are going to be

00:06:53.080 significantly reduced. So we need that younger group to come in and fill that gap.

00:06:58.000 No, you're absolutely right. And when we look at, and I keep going back to fruit and vegetable

00:07:02.500 production, but that's our staple. That's our perishable goods here in Canada. It's very labour

00:07:08.840 intensive. There's a lot of jobs that just can't be done with machinery. And it does require hand labour,

00:07:15.840 it requires skilled labour to be able to run the different machines. And, and we need to make sure

00:07:23.020 that kids growing up know, I personally have a passion for educating people where their food comes

00:07:29.060 from. So I think it's important that we start to teach kids at a young age that there are very noble

00:07:33.740 jobs in an agriculture industry. And we need to encourage young people to get into the profession

00:07:39.000 of food production, or we're going to see it decline here in Canada. And we're just going to become

00:07:44.100 completely reliant on, on fruits and vegetables and food from around the world, instead of right here

00:07:49.400 in our own backyard, where we have the best soils and the best climates for a lot of the production that

00:07:55.260 we do here in Canada. Agriculture, like I think any other industry, I don't care what it is, at the end

00:08:02.880 of the day, you need to be able to make money in order to make it work, you need to be able to take

00:08:09.560 home a paycheck, however that comes about, and feed your family and maybe hopefully have enough over to

00:08:16.960 have the discretionary spending to go on a vacation or, or do some things that make life just so much more

00:08:23.420 enjoyable. What I think we're dealing with on the federal government, in a lot of cases, is a

00:08:30.780 government that imposes rule, regulation, red tape upon the agriculture industry, to the point where

00:08:37.620 some are getting squeezed out. And when people talk about, they don't want the big farming operations

00:08:43.800 in their backyard. Well, this, I think, is a result of endless government policy. But not only that,

00:08:50.320 we heard about the carbon tax being increased, right across the board. So if you're a suburban

00:08:56.340 individual, you're driving, you have to drive into the city or another area, you're going to see more

00:09:03.700 money put into the price of a liter of fuel. This impacts the farmers as well, because they have to dry

00:09:09.980 their crops, they have to do a whole bunch of things. So right now, the carbon tax is about $30 a ton. Now, in

00:09:15.420 about 10 years, 2030, the Liberals are increasing that to $170 a ton. What does that mean for the average

00:09:22.460 farmer that has to eat that, or try to pass it along, in many cases, they can't, to the consumer, which then

00:09:30.340 would pay higher prices for groceries, which are already extremely high? I know there was a lot there. Try to

00:09:36.100 try to pick what you want from that.

00:09:37.820 No, you're absolutely right. And I've been fighting very hard against the carbon tax for

00:09:43.800 on-farm fuel use of propane and natural gas for farmers, because there is no cleaner option or no

00:09:51.380 other option, period, for drying grain, for instance. I have had some of the farmers in my own riding show

00:09:57.540 me bills of $8,000 of a carbon tax for one month of drying their grain or their corn. And when you have

00:10:04.020 a really wet year, you have to dry it to a certain moisture content in order for it to be stable

00:10:11.660 enough to keep over the winter or to be able to ship it down to an ethanol plant, for instance,

00:10:17.000 to be used. And I've had, we've seen this week, actually, a farmer, I think in Saskatchewan, where

00:10:22.720 his carbon tax bill for irrigating one month was $18,000. So if we see the carbon tax increase by what

00:10:31.040 the Liberals have said they're going to, it's going to squeeze farmers out of business. And

00:10:35.780 like you mentioned, in a lot of cases, there is no one to pass those costs onto. The farmer right

00:10:41.480 now is eating those costs into their, out of their own cash flows, and they have no way to recover

00:10:49.380 that. So inevitably, the price of groceries is going to go up. And I think we saw a report come out last

00:10:54.660 week that said that the price of groceries is going to go up about $700 per household next year,

00:10:59.920 which is one of the highest rate hikes for groceries that they've seen in decades. And part of that,

00:11:06.280 if you can imagine, if this carbon tax goes up and farmers have to keep paying this to produce food

00:11:11.700 here in Canada, it's just going to push our grocery bills even higher. And right now we're seeing big

00:11:18.060 grocery giants who are kind of taking a bit of, taking more out of farmers right now. We have Loblaws,

00:11:26.960 we have Metro, and we have Walmart who have said this summer that they wanted to increase their fees

00:11:32.460 for suppliers. So food processors and farmers would be included for the privilege of selling to their

00:11:38.380 stores. So these farmers already have to pay fees to sell to the stores, but they want to increase their

00:11:43.500 fees by as much as 6% so that they can pay for renovations to their grocery stores or upgrade their

00:11:49.920 e-commerce or upgrade their computer systems. And this isn't fair to the farmers and food processors.

00:11:56.280 They have nowhere to pass those fees onto, yet these companies are making record windfall profits.

00:12:04.480 There are 346 million or so Loblaws made in the third quarter, which is out of this world. That's

00:12:10.420 one quarter. And so inevitably, if we don't come up with better policies that are good for farmers,

00:12:18.700 and if we, you know, for instance, getting rid of the carbon tax, we're going to see grocery bills

00:12:22.780 skyrocket. And that's going to touch every single household in Canada. So I've been pushing at the

00:12:29.040 federal level, and we've actually seen some traction now. And I've been talking with independent

00:12:32.600 grocers, we need a grocery code of conduct in this country, so that these big grocery giants all have

00:12:39.140 to play by the same rules. And all of the suppliers who supply goods to these groceries, stores will be

00:12:46.060 able to play by those rules as well, so that we don't see the smaller independent stores being pushed out

00:12:50.980 a business because they can't get supplies or food into their grocery stores. Because the big grocery

00:12:58.240 giants that have all these fees, for instance, they would charge a penalty if they if a company

00:13:04.520 doesn't ship what they're supposed to, they get charged a penalty. So of course, it's going to go to

00:13:08.240 the grocery giants and not to the independent stores, which are the backbone of a lot of our rural

00:13:12.520 communities. We just have independent stores in the small towns.

00:13:15.520 On top of what is going on at every level of government imposing on agriculture, and yes,

00:13:21.420 there needs to be rules and regulations governing any industry, agriculture included, I think it's

00:13:26.860 the over the top rules and regulations that that drive a lot of farmers out of the business and the

00:13:33.900 operation. But you touched on a good good point there that that nobody goes to work, I think, to break

00:13:40.420 their back every single day to pay more in taxes. And, and if we actually want to ensure that groceries,

00:13:47.600 the price of your food is at a reasonable level, we have to stop imposing one tax after another and

00:13:54.580 everything that goes along that chain that increases incrementally the price of the final product,

00:14:00.980 because what's happening and what is happening, not just in agriculture, but when you'd know this in

00:14:05.920 other industries, you have what's called carbon leakage. Industries go elsewhere to produce goods

00:14:11.840 in jurisdictions that don't have a carbon tax. And then we have to import those goods back into

00:14:16.860 Canada. And it puts us at a competitive disadvantage, which I think in general hurts the Canadian

00:14:24.420 individual because the jobs are lost. And you're paying prices that go to companies and industries

00:14:30.740 outside of your own country. No, you're absolutely right. And in my riding of Lampton Kent Middlesex,

00:14:36.320 we do grow a lot of corn for the ethanol plant that's located down in Chatham, for instance.

00:14:41.500 But we're so close in such close proximity to the border with Michigan, that it's easy to import corn

00:14:48.400 across the border that where they don't pay a carbon tax where it's even cheaper than it is for the

00:14:54.640 plant to buy the product off of the local farmers. And if we're not careful, and if we keep putting

00:15:00.120 one tax on top of another tax on top of another tax, it's going to squeeze us right out to the point

00:15:05.800 where some of these plants have actually said in the ag industry, if we see any more taxes, or we

00:15:12.820 see the, for instance, the clean fuel standards, that's a whole nother topic to talk to touch on.

00:15:18.700 But if we see more regulations and more taxes, they're going to go south of the border where they

00:15:22.760 have to pay less. And then that puts us at a complete competitive disadvantage. And then we're paying

00:15:27.460 more to import it, rather than actually producing it here in our own country.

00:15:31.940 I think what gets missed sometimes in this discussion is that the end product, whatever it is,

00:15:37.920 has a set price that the market is willing to pay. So if the average individual says,

00:15:43.040 I'm willing to pay up to a certain point for whatever it is, it could be, I don't care if it's

00:15:48.400 carrots, going out to the movies, a meal at a restaurant, there is a certain point based on a

00:15:55.460 scale that they will pay. All these taxes, all these rules, these regulations that incrementally

00:16:00.840 increase the price of that final product, at some point, it goes past that mark where the great

00:16:07.360 majority of people can afford that product. So it just doesn't get bought, or they move elsewhere to

00:16:13.120 produce it so it can get bought and purchased for that price the market is willing to pay.

00:16:18.000 So let's stop pushing industry, pushing our farmers out of the business with endless rules,

00:16:25.580 regulations and red tape that only put them at a severe disadvantage.

00:16:30.360 No, absolutely. And it's important that we have some regulations in Canada, and Canada is known for

00:16:36.820 our high food safety standards here. And it is important that we have that. But I think there's

00:16:42.500 also ways which we need to look at some of these regulations, year after year and make sure that

00:16:48.860 they're modernized, and they keep up with the times because as technology evolves, as advancements

00:16:55.180 in science evolve, some of these regulations need to be changed. And we also see that they aren't

00:17:01.340 changed. And they're actually impeding farmers from doing what they do best and knowing what they do

00:17:06.180 and growing their crops. So it's important that we take away as much red tape as possible and give

00:17:11.440 farmers the freedom to manage their land, manage their crops to the best of their abilities, because

00:17:17.180 they are the ones who do this year in and year out. And they're the experts in their field.

00:17:23.780 And that's why I started off the program talking about the innovation, the technology that farmers

00:17:28.620 use every single day, because they are the best stewards of the land, because of course,

00:17:33.260 their livelihood depends on it. But I think it goes even further than that, because they actually

00:17:37.200 care so much about the lands they are working, and the impact on society as a whole. So to say that

00:17:45.480 farmers aren't doing their fair share, I think is disingenuous, and absolutely ridiculous, because they

00:17:51.620 are in a lot of cases ahead of the curve, sure, more work needs to be done. But these farmers are

00:17:56.560 willing to do it. And they're already moving in that direction. But we also need technology and

00:18:01.440 innovation to keep up with that demand that is going on in the field or on their individual operations,

00:18:07.580 so that they are able to purchase that at an affordable price.

00:18:13.060 No, you're absolutely right. And I'm glad you touched on the fact that farmers are stewards of

00:18:16.720 the land. Because coming from a farming family myself, I know we if we don't have good soil, and we don't

00:18:23.700 put the nutrients in it, and we don't take care of our land, that's our livelihoods at stake. And any

00:18:28.780 farmer will tell you that. And I think farmers are completely undervalued when it comes to what we do

00:18:34.400 to help the environment. If you look at all the crops we plant, and the carbon that gets sequestered

00:18:39.580 into the crops that we plant, and the way that technology has come come so far, like no till land

00:18:46.340 right now, we're doing things where we're making things better for the land and better for us for

00:18:51.440 growing our crops. And as things evolve, as science evolves, as we learn more and more, we want it,

00:18:58.320 we take care of the land and all farmers want what's best for that land. Because like you said,

00:19:03.840 it's their livelihoods at stake if we don't.

00:19:07.560 So do you want to talk about the clean fuel standards quickly? You mentioned that a few

00:19:11.060 seconds ago. Do you want to talk about that? Because I think some people in different industries

00:19:16.760 have said that this could be worse than the carbon tax in terms of impact on the economy impact on

00:19:22.600 industry and the price of goods and services right across the board.

00:19:27.580 Yeah, and we'll see a couple of different things with the clean fuel standards. One,

00:19:31.980 we haven't actually seen them yet. We are hoping or hearing that they're supposed to be coming

00:19:37.240 through the Canada Gazette process here, I think next week. So there were some concerns about land use

00:19:43.940 and the government dictating how the land could be used by farmers who want to plant feedstocks for

00:19:49.460 biofuels. So we're hoping to see that they've taken into account and consideration what industry

00:19:55.040 has suggested. And but on the flip side, there's good things because we're going to see more canola,

00:20:01.220 for instance, produced in in Western Canada that will go into biofuels. And we're going to see more

00:20:06.620 corn being produced to go into the ethanol plants. So there are some good things. But I think there's a

00:20:11.940 lot a lot that we still don't know about these clean fuel standards. So I think we're just going to have to

00:20:16.340 wait and see what happens when they actually get gazetted and see what they say. And then we'll be

00:20:20.140 able to talk about a little further.

00:20:22.160 I should have asked right off the beginning, you have a background in agriculture. Maybe you can tell

00:20:26.940 tell us quickly about that. And tell us how how you, you know, your family started with an operation

00:20:33.000 you and you were right there right from the beginning, obviously. And you you you learned a lot

00:20:39.800 from that experience. I did I do I come from a vegetable farm, like I mentioned before,

00:20:45.420 my grandparents on both sides of my family actually were immigrants to Canada. So there are

00:20:50.180 great Canadian true Canadian story where they my dad's folks were immigrated from Holland, my mom's

00:20:56.040 folks immigrated from Germany via Poland via Germany. And they started working in tobacco fields here in

00:21:02.940 Southern Ontario, and were able to work their way to the point where they bought their own land,

00:21:08.280 they they in some instances cleared their own land and started farming in the Grand Bend area. So

00:21:13.640 my dad's side of the family was one of the first six, I guess we call them settlers in the Klondike

00:21:19.640 Marsh outside of Grand Bend, and they would grow vegetables, so a lot of lettuce and onions. And

00:21:25.160 my mom's family grew anything from carrots, lettuce, onions, onion sets, and then we ended up with

00:21:32.260 about 1000 acres of potatoes. So it wasn't wasn't a small operation, it was quite large. So I'm a third

00:21:37.620 generation farmer. And my brother and I still sell potatoes today. And we're proud to carry on the

00:21:44.660 tradition that my family has had for years and years. All right, we have to close it out very

00:21:50.420 shortly, probably right about now. So I'll leave the final word up to you.

00:21:54.100 I just want to say to all the hard working farmers out there, it's been quite a year and thank you so

00:22:00.980 much for persisting through weather through the pandemic through the labour shortages and

00:22:06.260 every Canadian should be so grateful for the hard work that our farmers do. So thank you very much.

00:22:11.380 A perfect place to end it. Thank you Leanne Rood, Member of Parliament for Lambton,

00:22:15.780 Kent, Middlesex and Southwestern Ontario and Shadow Minister, there we go, I can say it,

00:22:20.660 for agriculture and agri-food. We appreciate her time. So many more questions about that. We'll get

00:22:25.620 her back on the program a little later on to really dig deep and maybe we might have some more details on

00:22:30.900 that clean fuel standards that will impact not just agriculture but other industries as well. So thank

00:22:36.180 you again. New content every Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. And of course, next week, you'll

00:22:42.180 want to tune in for this. Seriously. Erin O'Toole, the leader of Canada's Conservatives is going to be 0.77

00:22:47.380 our guest at 1.30pm Eastern Time next Tuesday. Make sure you tune in for that. It'll be a pre-Christmas

00:22:53.940 episode. And of course, as I said, new content every single week. We will have that for you

00:22:58.660 right through the holidays, right into the new year. We do not stop. There is so much at stake here in

00:23:03.460 Canada. And we want to ensure that that message continues to get out there. So please, we need

00:23:07.780 your help to do that. We need you to like, comment, subscribe, share this program. If you can't watch

00:23:14.420 it all now, download it, listen to it on platforms like Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, you name it,

00:23:20.340 it is out there. Together, we can push back against the ever-moving liberal agenda. So we

00:23:24.500 will see you next Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. Erin O'Toole will be our guest. Thank you to

00:23:30.100 Leanne Root for being our guest today. Remember, low taxes, less government, more freedom. 0.99

00:23:34.420 That's the good Francis. Thanks for joining us.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - December 18, 2020

Trudeau is Leaving Canadian Farmers Behind

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