Alex Kurial
Local Journalism Initiative

The candidates for the job of member of parliament for Sarnia-Lambton say agriculture needs support.

But how that happens is quite different from party to party.

The Lambton-Kent Federation of Agriculture recently hosted a debate between Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, Liberal Lois Nantais, NDP Adam Kilner, Greens Stefanie Bunko, PPC Brain Everaert and Christian Heritage Party Tom Laird. They all attempted to win over the crowd and make themselves heard over the thunderstorm outside which impacted audio and caused a pair of brief power outages Sept. 8.

Naturally the discussion focused on a range of farming topics including supply management and family farms with the PPC putting itself squarely at odds with the other parties on the issue of supply management.

“We need to be absolutely certain that we protect supply management,” says Kilner. He says the recent Canada-US-Mexico trade deal “really compromised that. Now we have different types of even milks coming into this country that’s set at a different standard than we have in this country.”

“We want to stand up against unfair tariffs, we want fair trade in this country. And we also want to start thinking about more opportunities for interprovincial trade. There are a number of barriers that get unnecessarily in the way of our producers being able to trade where they want to trade,” says Kilner.

Gladu says she and the Conservatives support supply management, but “having given away in multiple trade agreements slices of that pie, we don’t demand that those importing meet the same quality standards, the same animal welfare standards, the same traceability standards. So we have to level the playing field to make sure we protect our supply management system.”

Nantais lamented the fate of many American farmers who have been forced to sell their family farms only to turn around and become hired hands on those very plots.

“For me it has a lot to do with protectionism… supply chain and monitoring that for our Canadian farmers is important. We have to protect our food.”

Everaert meanwhile says supply management drives up prices and hurts some farmers. He says the PPC would prefer to buy out the middlemen involved in its practice and promote a more free market approach.

The hotly contested Line 5 and a potential diesel shortage for farms if it closed down was also a major point of discussion. All candidates were in agreement that it needs to keep bringing fuel to Sarnia and beyond.

Gladu says she’s fought hard for the pipeline’s survival but admits alternative ways of transport such as trucks, trains and boats, while “less favourable”may be necessary because of “laws brought in under the Liberals” which she says discourage pipeline building.

It is actually the Michigan governor trying to stop fuel from flowing through Line 5. The federal government has been contesting the move and is in court ordered negotiations with the state.

“When I first heard about it I struck fear into my heart,” says Nantais of a potential closure of the pipeline. She calls it a “community based problem” that local people can do their part to fix.

“Ontario Federation of Agriculture has already been advocating for you… They wrote the letters, they connected with the Minister of Natural Resources and demanded to know what was happening,” she says.

Kilner says “Line 5 is an essential resource that impacts most of this continent both in Canada and the United States. It’s not an option to close Line 5 and we will do everything that it takes to make sure it remains open.”

Bunko says her party’s goal of a green transition is “not about leaving any jobs behind or any resources behind… We’re here to support current oil and gas (industry) but there will be a slow transition at some point. We want to prepare everyone in the community by providing subsidies and funding for that slow transition so you’re not caught off guard.”

But Bunko says, for now, Line 5 must continue to ship fuel through Michigan.

Everaert says politicians were “asleep at the wheel” in allowing the Line 5 issue to get this far. Dubbing the pipeline the “heart and soul of our riding,” Everaert accused the other candidates of supporting a “green transition” and says this opened the door to attacks on gas and oil.

The environment was another topic of conversation including the carbon tax. Bunko says she wants to help farmers not only switch their equipment to green technology but also to help with farming capabilities and research and development for cleaner farm practices.

Gladu says “We will scrap the consumer carbon tax. Wherever carbon taxes have been tried governments have been unable to resist the billions of dollars they bring in. This is true in Canada today.”

While Gladu says the party would scrap the Liberal’s approach, the Conservatives have their own Carbon Tax. The carbon pricing scheme would be diverted to personal low carbon savings accounts to be used by individuals to buy “green” products. The party wants to keep in place the current output-based pricing system on larger industrial emitters.

The agriculture community has long been calling for an end to the carbon tax for food production. There was a private members bill to exempt farm uses from the carbon tax, however it died when the Liberals called an election.

For the agriculture community, Gladu adds Canada is on track for the Paris 2030 targets under a Conservative plan, adding some of her party’s plans would be “recognizing and encouraging emissions reducing practices like low/no-till and 4R nutrient stewardship, establishing transparent and reliable standards for carbon credits associated with land management practices with the goal of establishing a national carbon offset market and exploring the use of incentives to preserve and enhance natural infrastructure on private lands that contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation.”

And the candidates wanted to make sure farmers knew they were concerned about farm succession. Gladu says her party introduced Bill C-208 to allow for a lower tax rate for farm transfers within families.

All candidates voiced their support for a farm succession plan. “We’re going to do everything that we possibly can to make sure the next generation has access to the family farm,” says Kilner.