Western Producer staff
During the long hours of discussion among farm representatives trying to devise a new safety net system, most have accepted at least the principle of a “whole farm” program as the way to go.
The one consistent exception has been Quebec.
It has been a matter of philosophy.
For farm representatives from outside Quebec, the emphasis has been on devising a workable system which would personalize support payments to individual farm circumstances.
For Quebec representatives with their roots in the Union des Producteurs Agricoles, the very principle of individually-based support is offensive.
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As a union, the UPA advocates a collective approach to issues.
It is one small example of the differences which distinguish Quebec agriculture from agriculture in the other provinces.
If Quebec is seen as a distinct province, its agriculture shares some of that distinctness. It is evident in the make-up of the Quebec farm sector, in its political organization and in its place in society.
It is fashionable for Canada-boosters to stress common points between people on both sides of the divide. And farmers and farm leaders like to say that farmers are united around the world in the issues they face.
But there is no denying Quebec’s differences.
No other provincial farm sector is so dominated by supply-managed industries. More than 40 percent of farm cash receipts come from dairy and poultry.
This makes Quebec farmers more wary of open borders than most (although an expansionist market ideology is gaining force), and more anxious to support local processors who are their main customers.
It also has given Quebec farmers the highest average net operating income among Canadian farmers for each of the past three years.
That helps explain why government grants and off-farm income are far less important for Quebec farmers.
No other Canadian farmers are as organized and have such a powerful provincial lobby. For more than two decades, membership in the UPA has been mandatory for anyone with even minimal sales.
With dues check-offs, the union has an annual budget of more than $10 million, a large staff, a newspaper, an array of technical services and political clout in Quebec City that is the envy of most other lobby groups.
While it is common for Quebec farmers, like their counterparts elsewhere, to bemoan their declining influence, the UPA has traditionally been a part of the general political debate in a way that farm groups in Canada rarely are.
It aligns itself with other interest groups and industries on some issues, including business, labor, co-op or community causes, and then expects their support in return when agricultural issues are at stake. The strategy has not always worked to agriculture’s benefit but to an outsider, Quebec farm interests appear to be much more a part of the provincial political and business culture than in any other province.
Distinct society indeed.
