Two Ontario lawmakers are pushing a bill to protect the province’s most productive farmland.
Supporters say that this could help safeguard the agri-food sector from outside trade pressures.
Ontario loses 319 acres of farmland every day, with only a small fraction of land suitable for food production. The need to protect is urgent.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says that preserving farmland is crucial to Canada’s food security and sovereignty:
“Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland every day. Only 5% of our land is suitable for growing food, and less than 1% is prime farmland. With these ridiculous trade threats, now more than ever, we need to protect the farmland that feeds us, our food security, our food sovereignty.”
The Chair of Food Systems at the University of Guelph supports farmland preservation but questions whether tariff threats directly endanger land use.
“I’m not sure that tariffs are going to be a significant threat to land use. This blanket statement that it will tariff-proof our ag sector is probably leveraging the issue of the moment. That’s not to diminish the value of land preservation, but unless we’re talking about specific tariffs and specific issues, this will make a significant difference,” Mike von Massow states.
The bill has received support from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the National Farmers Union, saying that farmers have wanted this for years.
