A note to the prime minister Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2025 Last Modified: 8:44 AM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2025

Opinion

Dear Prime Minister Carney,

We know you’re still settling into your new job, and we hear you’re getting ready for an election campaign, but we would appreciate a moment of your time. You see, southwestern Manitoba and a large portion of the Prairie provinces are experiencing significant challenges that require your immediate attention.

While you and most of the national media has been focused on the impact that Donald Trump’s tariffs will have on the steel and aluminum industries, nobody seems to be talking, let alone worrying, about the impact of tariffs on Western Canada’s agriculture and agri-food industries, nor how those tariffs will affect the economic viability of communities across the Prairies.

Trump is threatening a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods, commodities and services, effective April 2, with a rate of 10 per cent for energy commodities. To make matters worse, China has also imposed tariffs on a range of Canadian farm and food imports. On March 20, additional 100 per cent tariffs will be imposed on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes and peas imported into that nation, while additional 25 per cent tariffs have been applied to pork and aquatic products.

Together, the tariffs levied by the world’s two economic superpowers have put our farmers and communities in a financial squeeze, and that has huge ramifications for the Canadian economy generally.

Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector employs more than 2.3 million Canadians and contributes more than $150 billion annually to our nation’s gross domestic product. That amounts to more than seven per cent of GDP. The canola industry alone contributes approximately $44 billion to the economy each year, but the new Chinese tariffs will impact almost $1 billion in Canadian canola exports to that nation.

Over the past several weeks, the Trump administration has repeatedly attacked Canada’s supply management system generally, and our dairy industry in particular. The system ensures a reliable and safe volume of poultry, eggs and dairy products across the country, but the Americans are threatening to impose tariffs unless we agree to dismantle a system that has served Canadians well for generations.

While abandoning our supply management system would likely put many farms out of business, it would also remove billions of dollars from the Canadian economy by putting that money into the pockets of American producers. That makes no sense.

The new tariffs, combined with other trade restrictions and retaliatory measures, mean that Canadian farmers will be experiencing higher costs for almost every aspect of their operations, while at the same time facing the genuine prospect of lower incomes. That puts the existence of the entire industry at risk and, by extension, threatens Canada’s economic and food security.

The Trump tariffs do not come into effect as against the ag industry until April 2, but their impact, combined with the Chinese tariffs, is already being felt across the Prairies. Some grain handlers have reportedly closed their bids on canola, and the canola industry is experiencing a serious drop in new investments. For example, billions of dollars in plans to expand seed-crushing capacity on the Prairies appear to now be postponed indefinitely.

It is impossible to understate the seriousness of the threat facing western Canadian farmers and their communities, and yet we note that you have said little to nothing about the situation, either before or since becoming prime minister.

We also note that your new agriculture minister, Kody Blois, is an MP from a riding in central Nova Scotia. Despite his new responsibilities, it doesn’t appear that he has any background in agriculture, let alone on the scale of ag operations here on the Prairies.

There is a lot of concern about the future of the agriculture and agri-food sectors throughout the region, and that translates into increased concern over the economic viability of the Prairies generally.

Western Canadians need to know that you are aware of the challenges we are facing, that you understand what is causing them and that you have a viable plan to solve them — and we need to hear it from you directly.

We have heard you say that you want to be the prime minister for all Canadians, and we take you at your word. We urge you to come to Westman to get a firsthand look at our region’s agricultural economy and speak to the farmers and business leaders who keep it running. Given the rising level of anxiety, and with planting season just around the corner, the sooner you come the better.