Their Gain, Our Pain

Canola farmers find themselves again at risk in a conflict not of their choosing, this time as potential collateral damage in a trade conflict centered on EV batteries. The uneven regional distribution of the gains and pains involved in this conflict raise questions about agriculture’s voice in Canadian policies, and more specifically Western Canada’s voice in agriculture politics.

Regarding the latter, one only needs to look at the regional background of Canada’s ag ministers going back to 1930. In that time, 21 different individuals have served as ag ministers and of those 10 have represented Alberta or Saskatchewan ridings, including James Gardiner who served for 22 years. Seven ministers have come from Ontario ridings, while BC, Manitoba, Quebec and PEI have each contributed one.

Of course, each Minister may or may not have represented their region or industry well, but historically there has been reasonable geographic balance. With the majority of EV battery economic activity occurring in Ontario and Quebec, but the economic fallout of losing major agriculture export markets majorly affecting Western Canada, this is another example of the importance of aligning nationally to raise the collective voice of the industry.