Agriculture

Friday June 12, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 12, 2020

Migrant workers in Canada face unsafe working, living conditions: report

Migrant workers in Canada are facing unsafe living and working conditions amid a series of COVID-19 outbreaks on Ontario farms, according to an advocacy group.

May 7, 2020

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) on Monday released a report summarizing complaints made to its tip line between March 15 and May 15 by workers from Mexico and the Caribbean about racism, threats, surveillance, poor access to food, and dirty cramped bunkhouses, with 40 people in a dorm reportedly sharing one shower in one case.

“We are in the midst of a human rights catastrophe,” MWAC executive director Syed Hussan said on Monday.

The report comes after a series of recent outbreaks on Ontario farms that have seen hundreds of migrant workers reportedly test positive for COVID-19. Two migrant workers, identified as Bonifacio Eugenio Romero and Rogelio Muñoz Santos, both from Mexico, have died from the virus. At least two other migrant workers are in intensive care, MWAC said.

May 9, 2019

“The employer was not interested in our well-being, only in the work we do for him,” a farm worker from Mexico, identified as Edgar, said through a translator at an MWAC video news conference on Tuesday.

Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough’s office on Monday said in a statement that there is “more to do” to protect migrant workers in Canada.

“The reported cases of inappropriate behaviours and unsafe working conditions are completely unacceptable,” the statement said, noting the government has already pledged $50 million to farmers to help with the costs of housing and paying workers for 30 hours a week during the mandatory two-week quarantine upon their arrival in the country.

But MWAC said it has received complaints from workers who reported not receiving their full quarantine pay. Others reported not receiving enough food during that two-week period.

“Sixteen workers reported receiving only one loaf of bread and a carton of eggs to feed them all for two days,” MWAC said. “One group of nine workers called us about being placed in a house where dogs had been living, that smelled of dog urine and had not been cleaned prior to the workers’ arrival. (Financial Post) 



 

Thursday May 7, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 7, 2020

Farmers expected a miracle. No wonder they’re disappointed by Ottawa’s aid package

July 29, 2014

When the Canadian Federation of Agriculture laid out a $2.6-billion ask last week to help farmers endure the COVID-19 pandemic, they were setting the bar very high. And so it is little wonder that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Tuesday announcement of a program worth barely $252-million sent the farming community reeling.

Fair enough. The funding announcement was indeed underwhelming, and it will not be enough to get some of those on the precipice to stick around. Many will exit the industry, regrettably. Our preannouncement estimates were that as many as 15 per cent of our farms could be lost by year’s end due to COVID-19; Ottawa’s plans will not change that.

August 10, 2019

The $125-million program to support livestock raises a variety of questions. Executing the program will take time, something producers do not have. Few details were given about the role of provinces or how much farmers will receive. The measures presented will likely not prevent more animals from being euthanized in the days to come. Along with milk dumping, COVID-19 is serving up case studies on a silver platter for animal-rights activists. It’s a shame that our farmers have been put in this position.

May 22, 2019

Losing farms will not compromise our nation’s food security, however. Farmland doesn’t just disappear, as it can always be exploited by someone else. But the most significant concern is how we can create jobs and wealth in rural economies located far from urban centres. This should be a priority; occupying our vast nation’s topography should be top of mind, from coast to coast to coast. Ottawa doesn’t show that it cares for rural communities enough – or for agriculture, for that matter – but it should, before it’s too late.

Coronavirus cartoons

Its response to farmers pleading for help was unsurprisingly slow as well. In the United States and Europe, most governments have provided pandemic-related financial aid directly to farmers weeks ago. In the United States, every American is providing $86 in support for agriculture by way of government-sanctioned programs; in Europe, it is over $90 per capita. Here in Canada, each of us giving six measly dollars to support agriculture. Farmers have every right to be disappointed. (Globe & Mail)


 

Saturday August 10, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 10, 2019

To reduce global warming, people need to eat less meat: UN report

Global meat consumption must fall to curb global warming, reduce growing strains on land and water and improve food security, health and biodiversity, a United Nations report on the effects of climate change concluded.

Although the report stopped short of explicitly advocating going meat free, it called for big changes to farming and eating habits to limit the impact of population growth and changing consumption patterns on stretched land and water resources.

Plant-based foods and sustainable animal-sourced food could free up several million square kilometres of land by 2050 and cut 0.7-8.0 gigatonnes a year of carbon dioxide equivalent, the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said.

“There are certain kinds of diets that have a lower carbon footprint and put less pressure on land,” Jim Skea, professor at London’s Imperial College, said on Thursday.

The IPCC met this week in Geneva, Switzerland to finalize its report which should help to guide governments meeting this year in Chile on ways to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“The IPCC does not recommend people’s diets … Dietary choices are very often shaped or influenced by local production practices and cultural habits,” Skea, who is one of the report’s authors, told reporters in Geneva. (National Post) 

 

Thursday October 10, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday October 10, 2015 Dairy farmers protest upcoming trade deal Dairy farmers parked tractors at the foot of Parliament Hill, walked cows through downtown Ottawa and dumped milk on the pavement Tuesday to protest what they say is a looming trade deal that threatens their way of life. Farmers in Ontario and Quebec fear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive 12-country trade deal thatÕs said to be near an agreement in principle, could spell the end of the supply management system that keeps their operations profitable. Dozens of tractors clogged Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings, snarling traffic, while some farmers led cows down the street and others splashed milk on the pavement. Negotiations are currently underway on the ambitious trade deal involving Canada and 11 other countries. Sources say an agreement in principle could be announced as early as Friday. Farmers fear the federal government will make concessions on supply management, a system of production limits and import tariffs that shields the dairy market from competition at the hands of foreign producers. The U.S. has been pushing for Canada to loosen its system, but the federal government says the government will protect Canadian interests at the negotiating table. ÒThis government remains absolutely committed to making sure we preserve our system of supply management through trade negotiations,Ó Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Tuesday. Opposition parties remain concerned about how the system could be affected in TPP talks. The NDPÕs Mathieu Ravignat, who is running for re-election in the Quebec riding of Pontiac, said supply management allows for many small farms to exist in Quebec and across Canada. (Source: National Post) Canada, United States, USA, trade, dairy, farmers, agriculture, Trans Pacific Partnership, TPP, globalization, cow

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 10, 2015

Dairy farmers protest upcoming trade deal

Dairy farmers parked tractors at the foot of Parliament Hill, walked cows through downtown Ottawa and dumped milk on the pavement Tuesday to protest what they say is a looming trade deal that threatens their way of life.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014Farmers in Ontario and Quebec fear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive 12-country trade deal that’s said to be near an agreement in principle, could spell the end of the supply management system that keeps their operations profitable.

Dozens of tractors clogged Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings, snarling traffic, while some farmers led cows down the street and others splashed milk on the pavement.

Negotiations are currently underway on the ambitious trade deal involving Canada and 11 other countries. Sources say an agreement in principle could be announced as early as Friday.

Farmers fear the federal government will make concessions on supply management, a system of production limits and import tariffs that shields the dairy market from competition at the hands of foreign producers.

The U.S. has been pushing for Canada to loosen its system, but the federal government says the government will protect Canadian interests at the negotiating table.

“This government remains absolutely committed to making sure we preserve our system of supply management through trade negotiations,” Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Tuesday.

Opposition parties remain concerned about how the system could be affected in TPP talks.

The NDP’s Mathieu Ravignat, who is running for re-election in the Quebec riding of Pontiac, said supply management allows for many small farms to exist in Quebec and across Canada. (Source: National Post)

 

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Tuesday, July 29, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Ontario’s battle over 3-litre milk jugs on grocery shelves

A spat over milk containers is souring relations between dairy farmers and manufacturers.

For months, Ontario’s milk bureaucracy has been battling over whether you should be able to buy 3 litres of milk in the grocery store.

On one side are the milk processors, represented by the Ontario Dairy Council, who want to open up the market entirely to 3-litre milk containers.

On the other is the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, which is concerned that 3 litres of milk will prove so popular that the 4-litre option disappears off shelves entirely.

“Our interest is only in ensuring that consumers are protected, and we are of the view that the 4-litre containers are essential, and we want to make sure that they continue with respect to the plastic bags,” said Graham Lloyd, general counsel for the DFO.

The dispute started last December, when Ontario’s farm products marketing board gave Mac’s Convenience Stores permission to sell 3-litre plastic milk jugs — only jugs, not bags — on a one-year pilot program.

The Ontario Dairy Council appealed, arguing that such a limited program would give some processors an unfair head start in the 3-litre field. It favours a general ruling with no restrictions on container type or retailer.

After initial arguments over jurisdictional rights and access to redacted documents, the issue is now heading for the quasi-judicial Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal. (Source: Toronto Star)

OTHER MEDIA

This cartoon was posted on Yahoo News Canada and the Ottawa Citizen.