New agriculture minister hopes to engage farmers
New federal agriculture minister Heath MacDonald hopes to engage farmers across Canada on the issues that matter most.
MacDonald was sworn in as minister May 13 at Rideau Hall as part of prime minister Mark Carney’s first cabinet shuffle since the election.
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He said the news of his new role came as a surprise even to him.
“In this business, you just never know … where you’re going land,” he said.
“We went through an election, and you’re kind of decompressing from that, and all of a sudden, Mr. Carney gave me the call, and here I am.
“First of all, you’re excited, obviously, and then the nervousness sets in, you start to think, ‘oh, wow, this is a pretty big event.’ ”
Macdonald represents the riding of Malpeque in Prince Edward Island.
“Farming, coming from the rural part of the country, is obviously on my plate each and every day,” he said.
“So, it’s not unprecedented to be in the middle of the farming issue.”
He said he hopes to have discussions with farmers and provincial ministers across the country to build trust and better understand the issues facing different regions.
“I could sit here and read binders all day, but boots on the ground, I can’t wait to get out of Ottawa, to be quite honest with you, and meet some of these farmers and these provincial ministers as well, to ensure that they understand who I am and what I’m made of, and what I can try to contribute to their success.”
MacDonald previously served on the House of Commons agriculture committee. He said this work allowed him to make valuable connections, including the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Cattlemen Association and the Canada Grains Council.
“The handshakes and the friendliness (are) there,” he said.
“We just need to get to work together now on some bigger issues.”
He said he hopes to use these connections to facilitate conversations across regions, including in-person meetings:
“It’s all about understanding their needs and ensuring that they know that I’m accessible.”
Before being elected to the House of Common s in 2021, MacDonald served as finance minister in the P.E.I legislature. He said this experience could be an advantage in his new role.
“It allows me to have a better understanding of the financial resources required to progress the farming community and allows me to speak freely on certain things that maybe some others might not be aware of.”
In addition to his role as agriculture minister, MacDonald was named to several government committees, including the Build Canada committee, which considers issues of economic productivity, including housing and climate action.
While MacDonald said he hasn’t had time yet to be fully briefed on what the committee will entail, he expects some agricultural concerns to carry over into Build Canada, specifically labour force issues.
“I’ll be front and centre with agriculture, ensuring that every decision that is made that they are well aware of the effects it has on the agri-food and agriculture portfolio,” he said.
“That’s my job, to ensure that we’re heard at the cabinet table, and that’s what I intend to do.”
One issue he said he hopes to engage other ministers on is interprovincial trade, which he called a high priority for the government.
Two of the major policies Canadian farmers are hoping to see action on are a formal reversal of the capital gains tax changes and a permanent removal of the carbon tax for on-farm activities.
“On both those issues, I believe the decisions that Mr. Carney came out with, it’s the right decision.”
“I think we were very clear on the carbon tax and eliminating it all together,” MacDonald said, and pointed out he was one of the few Liberal MPs to support Bill C-234, a private members bill that proposed carbon exemptions for some on-farm activities.
MacDonald also said he is aware of concerns around red tape and regulatory burdens. This includes reforms to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which he says he will be pursuing.
“There’s lots of issues right across the board, and we need to take each and every one of them and categorize them on the importance to those industries,” he said,
“And that’s what we’ll do.
“The lines of communication are open, and we’ll continue to have those discussions, and then bring it back to Ottawa and have those discussions with the bureaucrats, whether it’s CFIA or the department, or whoever needs to hear it, they’re going to hear it.
“I’m knee deep-in this stuff right now … but you learn and live every day, and we’ll just keep progressing forward.”
Source: www.producer.com