Dear Premier Ford and Ministers:
Firstly, I would like to express, on behalf of the people I have spoken with, a sincere thank you for the way you have been handling the Covid-19 crisis. It has been a very trying time for everyone and we appreciate the amount of effort you are putting into continuing to keep the province operational.
After speaking with a number of people in the agricultural community there are some serious concerns regarding the foreseeable food shortages. With this we have categorized some problems/situations and have included suggested solutions. If you would like more information please contact us and we will gladly do what we can to assist you. The problems/situations and suggestions, are:
1. Foreseeable food shortages. This cannot be denied considering some farmers (hot-house) cannot get seed to plant.
Suggested solution
Seeds
All bulk seed orders take precedent over retail sale of seed. Farmers, both large and small, with hot-house/green-house ability need to ensure they have the seed for planting. With suppliers unable to fill orders, due to panic purchases at the retail level, there may be a shortage and farmers, who do this on a mass production scale, seem not able to obtain seed. Perhaps contacting the likes of Amazon, Home Hardware, Co-ops, etc., asking them to restrain the sale of seeds until the orders for the farm producers have been filled. This would not take a lot of time to fix.
2. Migrant workers are going to be late and they must be quarantined,[i] causing crops to be late, perhaps not even being ready for production, due to delays. Fruit and vegetable farmers are concerned with migrant worker shortages, canneries,[ii] transport, harvesting and direct sales at markets.
Suggested solution
Migrant workers
The Federal and Provincial governments have expressed that migrant workers are “essential” and yet they must be isolated for the 14 day period. England has testing available for the Covid-19/Coronavirus which merely takes half an hour. [iii] Could the government obtain these tests for migrant workers ensuring they are available for work? Could the 14 days isolation be reduced to a 7 day isolation to ensure no residue of the virus? This may assist farmers who are in need of the migrant workers and ease some of the pressure on the food chain.
Canneries[iv]
The province should encourage the construction and operation of canneries and could initiate grants and/or interest free loans to accomplish this, as it was the previous government’s initiative to shutter the small canneries and fruit/vegetable processing. This, as with the meat processing plants, could eliminate a bottle-neck in the food chain because it wouldn’t rely on merely a few plants in a few selected areas and/or transport into Ontario.
Transport
See 3
Harvesting
Migrant workers are needed to ensure the harvest is successful for fruit and some vegetables. Other farm crops such as hay, wheat, soy, etc., also need to be harvested by the farmers for feed for animals as well as human consumption. More and more farmers are looking for farm hands to assist with this therefore the province could look to those receiving E.I. benefits to fill in these gaps.
Direct sales
Many farmers have direct sales at farmer’s markets and road side kiosks. Hand sanitizer and/or gloves could be used and/or made available for these efforts. There would also be the need for plastic and/or paper bags to continue for the customer’s use. Farmers and their businesses are and should be considered essential now and in future.
3. Borders between Canada and U.S. being closed, not only to non-essential travel, but eventually to essential travelers such as transport. Provincial borders being closed to essential transport of goods and/or the eventual quarantine of transport drivers and the goods[v] (re – contamination and transfer of the virus from one jurisdiction to another).
Suggested solution
There is potential that an essential worker, who is crossing U.S.- Canada and/or provincial borders, will be positive with the virus. With that potential it would be remiss for the provincial and federal governments not to restrict even “essential” workers, such as truck drivers, couriers, etc. Therefore, would it not be in the best interest of the province to make the half hour test kits available at the borders, ensuring that there is no cross-border infections? This could elevate the potential of shipments being destroyed and/or community transfer between jurisdictions. Everyone wants to ensure the food chain is protected for the benefit of the residents of Ontario and Canada.
4. Cattle, chicken, pork farmers, etc., are realizing the price of beef/meat is going up (supply and demand) and yet they are looking at difficulties of transport to end users, with fears that if one person in the meat processing plant is struck down with the virus the entire plant must be closed.[vi]
“Packing plant suspends slaughter after federal inspectors refuse to enter over COVID-19 concerns
“A packing plant north of Calgary was forced to suspend some of its operations Friday after federal meat inspectors refused to return to the plant, where a worker had tested positive for COVID-19.
Harmony Beef near Balzac halted its cattle slaughter after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CIFA) kept some inspectors out of the facility, the company said….”[vii]
Suggested solution
Meat processing plants
The province could be actively involved with re-opening numerous abattoirs throughout the province ensuring there are inspections which meet the CFIA criteria. This would stave off the possibility that if one major processing plant is closed, creating a bottleneck in the food chain, others could fill in the gap, remaining clear of contamination.
The province could initiate grants and/or interest free loans to accomplish this as it was the previous government’s initiative to shutter the small abattoirs and meat processing plants through egregious building coded standards (CFIA), as expressed by a farmer. His statement to me was that the cutting room had been determined to be 4 inches too small therefore the entire premise was closed.
These smaller processing plants could still maintain the processing of private as well as meat for populous consumption as they used to, ensuring that they do meet the CFIA inspection criteria. There would also have to be an increase in fees charged for these smaller processing plants but well worth it if the food chain can be maintained.
5. Restrictions on the use of the land through egregious designations by means of planning, heritage designations, conservation designations, endangered species protection of habitat, Niagara Escarpment designations, etc., etc., etc. [viii]
Suggested solution
All Lands designations in the Official Plans pertaining to rural lands need to be removed. These designations include but are not limited to:
- Future Secondary Plan Area;
- Special Study Area;
- Escarpment;
- Wetlands;
- Hazard Lands;
- Major Open Space;
- Areas identified as containing Provincially Significant Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest;
- Other areas identified as potentially containing significant or sensitive natural heritage features.
All of the aforementioned designations restrict the use of rural lands which can be put into production. One property owner, who is not a farmer, leases out his land for cattle grazing. He is restricted as to how much land he can lease out due to these egregious designations of “wetland,” purported “sensitive natural heritage features,” and “karst areas.” If we, in Ontario, want our rural areas and farming communities to meet the challenges presented, we need, as a province, to remove these restrictions. Not only on farm land but land which can and does have the potential to be used as farm land. Not only do these designations restrict the agricultural community’s efforts during a crisis, but when land is offered for sale, if it is designated for anything but agricultural land, the farming community will not even look at it. The restrictions decrease the amount of available land as farm land.
As a final note, Premier and Ministers, again we would like to thank you for your efforts during this trying time. We appreciate how difficult it is, and will continue to be, until this crisis is over. It is hoped that this letter is received with the best of intentions and that this letter is of assistance to you and the people of Ontario.
Sincerest Regards,
Elizabeth F. Marshall
President All Rights Research Ltd.,
Jeff Bogaerts
President Ontario Landowners Association
