Opinion
On Tuesday, I headed to downtown Ottawa, just a stone’s throw from our Parliament buildings to take in Farm Credit Canada’s Future of Food event. Held in conjunction with Canada’s Ag Day, the conference is one I always look forward to. It brings together hundreds of people from within and from outside the farm and food industry for a day of learning, conversation, and encouragement for the task at hand.
This year, that task at hand seemed larger than usual. Not just about a new growing season, a new year of investment, collaboration, or innovation, this year’s event happened in the midst of a trade war with the U.S., ahead of a near-certain federal election, and, really, in the face of our very existence as a nation under threat.
In speaking with attendees, we all put on a brave face — celebrating what makes agriculture in Canada great, why we’re a good news story on the world stage for food production, and the potential of what we could do. But in quieter voices nearly everyone I spoke with was worried. The magnitude of what is happening south of the border and between our country and our neighbour shadowed every. single. conversation.
And it should, right? The United States of America is our largest trading “partner” (air quotes are mine, given my grumpiness over tariffs), our neighbour, and — at least in the past — our friend. A new president and a new administration seems set to turn that on its head, and while many Canadians are nervous, I think more of us are also more than a little pissed.
To that, I say: good. Because, yes, fear is a motivating emotion and so is anger. And Canada and Canadians should be very worried and very angry at the hostile takeover in the works to the south.
Last June (if feels like much longer ago), I wrote about my frustration with Canada as a whole being rather “meh” about our challenges, our opportunities, our future. It would seem it takes a very real threat to our actual sovereignty as a country to get us to sit up and take notice. To take notice that we are a nation of incredible wealth and potential; that we have what the world needs and wants; that if we sit back and rest in our Muskoka chairs thinking we’re super just because we ARE and not doing anything about it, someone is going to come along and take what we have.
With so much throwing of weight and unpredictability swirling in the U.S., one of the key messages at the Future of Food event was to focus on what we can control, what we can shape, what we can do. Many Canadians are choosing to buy Canadian, boo the U.S. national anthem, and spend their travel dollars anywhere but south.
As an industry, what are we doing? What could we be doing? For years (decades?), we’ve grappled with our infrastructure problems, our red tape, our overall meh-ness when it comes to our potential. As a Canadian agriculture industry, we’re very good at identifying a problem, we’re very good at meeting about said problem, perhaps even lobbying about the problem, but as a nation, many are frustrated by our inability, it seems, to actually DO something about opportunities.
It’s not that we don’t have the ideas, the capability, or the resources, what’s lacking is the fire in our belly — at all levels.
I won’t pretend that the shadow of the U.S. is not large and looming. It is. While we may have friends there, you’d have to be a fool to think, right now, we are anything but a target. We have water, minerals, energy, and food; all things they want and need. So what are we going to do about it?
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