Well, the election is over, we hope, for another . . .
four years. During the week before voting day, I received more emails from political parties than all other emails combined. Sometimes I received emails from the same party four or five times every day. It was quite obvious that they were all very nervous about losing.Although the advance voting polls had record numbers of early voters, I was like the majority of eligible voters and had trouble making up my mind. Decisions made by the two major parties during the last decade have left many citizens of Canada disappointed in trade agreements, back room deals and the resulting consequences.
Farmers feel that agriculture has been used as a pawn in many recent trade deals. Grains, beef, pork and dairy have been traded off for oil, automobile, airplane and world trading.
Canada used to be a world leader in animal genetics, grain breeding, reliable delivery of quality grains, and basic agricultural research. In the last half century Canada has aligned itself with the US in adopting a shared funding approach to research. This has given seed, chemical and pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to steer research, even in respected universities, to choose projects that would most likely benefit them even more than the farmer or consumer. As a result, China has taken over first place in agricultural research, even surpassing the USA.
Quebec has always had a very strong agricultural base in politics and in desperation has given a notable support to their nationalist party even though most of their citizens do not even know the last name of the leader.
The leader of the new PPC may have even lost the one seat that the party has because he didn’t know the economic value of the supply management system to the consumers and the farmers.
The next generation who will inherit this planet are expressing a genuine concern for the environment. When these people get sick, as the animals on a farm occasionally do, they don’t care about the language that the doctor speaks or the colour of their skin. They are more interested in the knowledge that the doctor or veterinarian has to help them get better or even save their life.
When children are justly punished for doing something wrong most will correct their ways and move on to be even better citizens. It will be interesting to watch our political parties to see how they react. Canada is watching.
Chris Judd is a farmer in
Clarendon on land that has
been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
