Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate
Seventeen demonstrations over two months in all regions of the province involving an estimated 4,500 participants.
That is how Quebec’s farmers’ union quantifies the public protests that saw convoys of tractors take to the streets in urban centres throughout April and the beginning of May to draw attention to the growing list of issues that threaten the financial viability of agricultural producers.
The question now is: What’s next?
So far, the Union des producteurs agricoles is far from impressed with the provincial government’s reaction to the calls it has made at the demonstrations for immediate and sustained help to manage and mitigate the financial pressures farmers are facing.
From high interest rates, to increasing fuel and fertilizer costs, severe weather events triggered by climate change that range from periods of drought to heavy rains and windstorms to the increasing bureaucratic burden being imposed on agricultural producers by expanding environmental regulations and reporting requirements, farmers are being hampered and hurt.
And the economic reality is making it increasingly difficult for the next generation of agricultural producers to take over operations.
“The government’s response and will to consider the proposals put forward to date are clearly insufficient,” said UPA president Martin Caron in a letter sent to Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne on May 9.
In the National Assembly, Liberal agriculture critic André Fortin took up the farmers’ cause, pushing the CAQ government to act.
In a statement, Fortin said: “This is a real crisis. Imagine the farmers who lost 100 per cent of their 2023 harvest and are only offered 15-per-cent compensation. It becomes impossible for them to launch the new season while continuing to make the investments necessary for their production.
“It’s simple,” Fortin continued, “under current conditions, La Financière agricole is not fulfilling its mandate. Despite this, the minister does not seem interested in reviewing the programs.
“Is this willful blindness or bad faith?”
The UPA is hosting a provincial meeting with all its affiliate federations and groups May 23 in Quebec City to provide an updated overview of the financial situation farmers in the province currently face and to discuss next steps in its ongoing campaign to pressure the government to help alleviate the financial strain in the sector.