That’s the message
UPA sent legislators
in provincial capital

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

If the Quebec government says agriculture is a priority, it has to allocate more of its budget to the sector. And that means investing more than 0.98 per cent of its overall budget as it does now.

That was the clear message from the Union des producteurs agricole as it wrapped up its 99^th annual Congrès Général in Quebec City earlier this month.

“We don’t want pity,” UPA president Martin Caron told The Advocate in an interview as the three-day convention wrapped up. “We want equity.”

With about 700 delegates gathering for the convention in the provincial capital, the changing realities of farming was showcased. And it came with a clear, impassioned plea from the UPA , which represents the more than 42,000 farm families from across the province – the government has to put its money where its mouth is and support Quebec farmers now, as the  growing inflationary and climatic pressures are threatening their financial viability.

“We can’t keep going into deeper debt,” Caron said.

To underline its message, the UPA staged a march through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6, and held a rally outside the National Assembly, where Caron presented Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne with the organization’s newly drafted manifesto.

The demand to be part of the solution to help the province’s agricultural producers who face increased economic challenges was on clear display as about 1,000 members of the Union des producteurs agricoles demonstrated through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6 as they took their plea to the National Assembly.

“We, the agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on a collective push from citizens and government for the viability and sustainability of agriculture and forestry,” the document declares.

“For more than 100 years, we have been committed to feeding the world with determination and passion, despite all the challenges we have encountered over time,” the message continues, referring to the fact that the UPA is set to mark its 100^th anniversary.

“Today, we are at a turning point in our history: more than ever, the sustainability of

our farms are being called into question. The unparalleled situation of economic challenges,

environmental, climatic and social factors expose the vulnerability of the future of agriculture and our ability to ensure Quebec’s food autonomy.”

The manifesto issues a direct call for the provincial government to act:

“Today, we, the 42,000 agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on the government to prioritize our mission, which is so critical to Quebec, through a new, strong bio-food policy that is adapted to the new economic, environmental and social rules, and reflective of the challenging global context and realities of climate change.” “We, the women and men who feed the public, must be at the heart of a social plan that allows us to exercise our profession in an economically viable, effective framework that provides a safety net that supports environmental sustainability.”