We are in election season. Most candidates are preaching that they can do better, but without very many or no solutions to problems that in some cases were started 30 or more years ago.
Before we built our last dairy barn more than two decades ago, we spent many years visiting modern dairy facilities and attending dairy conferences. Some experienced government dairy specialists from the Ontario department of agriculture also attended these conferences and dairy tours. One once said, “Watch closely for things that those dairy farmers did right, and also what they did wrong. Don’t redo the mistakes that they made.” Another Ontario Engineer said, “It’s a lot less expensive to tear up plans and blueprints to make changes to mistakes before the cement is poured than after.” We also looked at many sites before deciding on where we built the barn. I also hired different dairy facility engineers to look at the sites before making a final decision, and our family took many looks at the project before we began construction or financing. Large projects can take generations to pay off the debt, and I probably wouldn’t live that long.
Let’s get back to the mistakes that affect our lives that were taken by different politicians as far back as 50 years. The first FTA (Free Trade Agreement), signed in the ‘80s, traded away our Auto Pact between Canada and the U.S., which ensured that a very large percentage of the parts that made up cars and trucks had to be made in the U.S. and Canada.
The next big mistake was when Canada lost tariff-free access to exporting softwood lumber, cedar shake and mulch to the U.S. As I remember, Canada had already taken the U.S. to the world court after the U.S. had illegally charged a tariff on Canadian softwood lumber. Canada won the challenge. The U.S. appealed the decision and lost the appeal to Canada. Then the federal government changed, and decided not to claim back all the tariffs that the U.S. had illegally collected from Canada. As I remember, the new Canadian government also gave the U.S. the right to continue to collect tariffs on softwood lumber and cedar products. Within a couple of years, sawmills closed their doors across the country, including many in Pontiac County. This was about the same time as the economic recession of 2008.
Canadian farmers used to be protected by the Canadian Wheat Board which was owned by the Canadian federal government and guided by the grain farmers and the federal government. For decades, Canada was recognised for producing the best wheat in the world. The Wheat Board also guided and maintained efficient movement of grain from farms to shipping ports on both east and west coasts, with grain constantly in transport even before it was sold. The merchants of grain did not like the Wheat Board because those grain merchants could not control the Canadian grain markets and exports.
Even though the Canadian grain farmers had won a vote to maintain the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board, the federal government ended it in 2011, and the huge merchants of grain soon took over. It was more common that below-standard grain was blended into some excellent quality grain so it could be sold for a higher price than it was worth. Soon the world could not trust Canadian grain to be the world’s best. Now, Italian wheat is one of the best bread wheats and is unsurpassed as the best wheat for pasta. The U.S. is now proposing tariffs on 13 Italian pasta brands because it is also recognised in the U.S. as the best pasta and is taking over the U.S. pasta market.
The most recent problem interfering with grain trade is the possibility of grain containing residual glyphosate. A growing number of countries have restricted imports of grain that is contaminated with high levels of glyphosate, which has been used extensively as a herbicide on crops, golf courses, and even in public places to get rid of weeds and grasses. When glyphosate was introduced half a century ago, it was declared the safest herbicide ever. Recent studies (or lack there of) has left the health industry unsure and asking for more studies before any other herbicide or blend of herbicides is approved or licensed.
Many of our “wanna-be” politicians were not in power or even born when some of those major problems were started. Some of those very large, expensive mistakes may take many years and some expensive, unpopular decisions to begin to undo or repair the damage. In some cases, there are some very large financial investors working to maintain things as they are, and possibly lots of lobbying dollars being used to keep things as they are. Choose your political representatives carefully and do some deep research before blaming elected officials for mistakes that were made decades ago. Often the political climate in a province can drastically affect long-term investment and affect local job markets for years.
