The federal election is six months away, but the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has launched its own campaign to put the sector on candidate platforms.
President Mary Robinson said the launch of Producing Prosperity in Canada during an April 9 lobby day in Ottawa was designed to make everyone aware of agriculture’s role in the national economy.
CFA does not endorse particular parties or candidates.
Robinson said the campaign strives to remind a mostly urban population that agriculture creates $112 billion in gross domestic product and is the second-largest employer in the country.
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Board members attended about 50 meetings to discuss the document, which is aimed at MPs, candidates and policy makers.
Producing Prosperity is based on three pillars of economic growth, food security and environmental stewardship.
It notes that Canadian farmers have “drastically” reduced carbon emissions through new technology and practices, and further efforts are underway with researchers.
“We’re the environmental stewards more than anybody else,” Robinson said.
“We have the skin in the game.”
While canola is the issue most top of mind right now, Robinson said the longer-term vision is critical. Agriculture should be a national priority, she added.
At the CFA annual meeting in late February, Peter Seemann from Grassroots Public Affairs said a minority government of some type looks most likely based on polling.
According to the Poll Tracker, which aggregates information from numerous publicly available polls and is maintained by CBC’s Eric Grenier, the April 9 projections show the Conservatives with 36 percent, Liberals with 32 percent and NDP with 16 percent of the vote. The Greens held eight percent and other parties had the remainder.
The polls suggested the probability of a Conservative majority was 37 percent while the probability of a Liberal majority was just 12 percent.
Conservatives led the polls in Western Canada and Ontario, and the Liberals were ahead in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
However, polls don’t always hold true, as indicated by the 2015 campaign. The parties were virtually tied but the Liberals executed a campaign that won them a majority, said Seemann.
“The take- away from that is campaigns matter,” he told CFA delegates.
“Lots of things will happen between now and then.
Robinson said the CFA wants to capture and build on the momentum of the Barton report, which identified agriculture as an economic driver, and the agri-food strategy table report.
“We’ve seen consecutive governments not put agriculture as high a priority as we feel it should be,” she said.
“We’re working toward creating an awareness all across the board.”
