13/08/2025
My Op-Ed: When Government Policy Leaves Farmers Behind
China just slammed the door on Canadian canola with 75.8% tariffs. A move that wipes out billions in farm income and erases nearly half our canola export market overnight. For Prairie farmers, this isn’t a policy debate. It’s our livelihoods.
The loss is not theoretical. In 2024 alone, Canadian canola exports to China were worth nearly $5 billion. Roughly half of our canola exports, seed, oil, and meal combined went to China. Those sales supported thousands of family farms, local ag businesses, transportation companies, and processing facilities across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. With one tariff, much of that market is gone.
And yet, Ottawa is quiet.
We’ve seen this movie before. When auto tariffs threaten Ontario, the government mobilizes in days. When canola, the backbone of the Prairie economy takes a direct hit? Silence. No emergency trade mission. No clear plan. No urgency.
So why did this happen?
China’s official reason cites anti-dumping concerns, claiming Canadian farmers receive unfair subsidies. But many in agriculture believe the real trigger is political retaliation, linked to Ottawa’s increasingly aggressive trade and industrial policies. The biggest among them: the government’s heavy focus on electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and critical mineral supply chains (to make EV batteries), which has ruffled feathers with major trading partners.
While Canada has every right to pursue climate and industrial goals, the EV strategy has at times overlooked its impacts on other sectors. Deals worth billions have been announced for battery plants in Ontario and Quebec, backed by taxpayer incentives. Yet there’s been no equivalent urgency to secure and protect agricultural export markets that generate similar, or greater economic returns for the country.
This imbalance fuels the growing perception in farming communities that Ottawa is willing to let agriculture be collateral damage in its pursuit of industrial and urban priorities. EV batteries might power tomorrow’s cars, but canola powers our economy today and feeds millions here and around the world.
Adding insult to injury is the silence from the federal government. The message this sends is devastating: Some industries matter more than others. And in this case, the industry that puts food on tables, sustains rural communities, and feeds the world is being told, implicitly, that it’s expendable.
If Canada’s leaders are serious about a balanced economy, they must fight for all sectors with equal determination. That means challenging unfair tariffs, diversifying markets, and making sure that farmers are not sacrificed for the sake of high-profile announcements in other industries.
Because when you abandon the people who grow your food, you risk more than lost exports, you risk the very foundation of your country’s economy and security.
If Canada wants to keep feeding the world and remain competitive globally, we can’t afford to let key markets close without a plan. Agriculture deserves a seat at the table in trade and industrial strategy, not as an afterthought, but as a partner in shaping our economic future.
