QUEBEC CITY – It is a touchy subject at the moment in Quebec.
Who cut down the trees south of Montreal and why?
During a Nov. 8 speech to the annual meeting of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, Quebec environment minister Thomas Mulcair waded into the debate, suggesting that it was farmers cutting woodlots to create new fields where manure can be spread.
“Between 1999 and 2002, 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of woodlots on the south shore were cut down,” he said. Now, heavy rains wash soil into the rivers and streams.
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“It certainly has made erosion harder to control,” said Mulcair.
The minister also questioned whether the commitment to corn-based ethanol is energy efficient.
“I think one plant is enough because we have to look at the balance sheet.”
And he vowed his ministry will be tough with the small minority of farmers who violate environmental regulations.
“There are no shortage of environmental regulations and laws. The problem often has been that there is not the political will to enforce them.”
The environment minister often is at odds with the province’s powerful farm lobby and even on the forest issue, some farm leaders suggest there could have been some corporate cutting involved.
Still, the minister said he was not there to lecture farmers about sustainable agriculture since Quebec boasts some farms that are into their 13th or 14th generation of operator.
However, others at the AIC convention did raise questions about sustainability under existing rules.
Université Laval agricultural economics professor Guy Debailleul was the most prominent critic.
He said that Quebec farm policy for decades has been based on a trade-off.
While Canadian farmers outside Quebec sometimes look enviously at the support that province’s farmers receive through a rich provincial stabilization and insurance program, there has been a price for that support. Quebec agriculture is one of the most regulated in the country.
Now, he told the AIC meeting it is time to reconsider the results.
“Indicators could lead us to question the real health of the Quebec model and whether it supports sustainable agriculture,” said Debailleul. “I think there are some problems.”
He noted that since 1990, the average price of farmland in the provinces has increased four-fold, often because livestock farmers are competing for land on which they can spread the manure generated by expanding intensive livestock operations.
Quebec limits the number of animals an operation can carry by the amount of land the operator has access to for manure spreading.
Debailleul also raised the issue of forests being cut down to create new farmland for manure disposal.
He noted proposals for new hog operations inevitably bring public protests and a divide between the farm and non-farm populations. Several years ago, the government acceded to farm lobby demands and approved a “right to farm” law but controversy continues over intensive livestock operations. Meanwhile, farmers are paying up to $30,000 for quota to add one cow to their dairy herds.
In a later interview, Debailleul said he sees a conflict between the protection and income support programs put in place during earlier phases of Quebec farm policy planning and the new emphasis on trade.
“Are they compatible with trade at world prices? I think we cannot spare ourselves a close examination of all this.”
