51st Convention (2020)
What a year 2020 has been! Throughout, the National Farmers Union has continued to work diligently on behalf of family and cooperative farmers and progressive eaters and thinkers across Canada…
- calling for measures to support family and cooperative farms
- fighting for farmers and farmers markets to be recognized as essential services
- highlighting the importance of localized food systems
- speaking for the health of all workers in the food system including farmers, migrant workers, inspectors and processors
In addition, the NFU has created a Vision of a post-COVID Food System that we look forward to sharing, enhancing and advancing.
We will delve into all of this and more at our annual National Convention. This year, to keep everyone safe, it will be hosted on-line.
We would like you to be part of it.
Download a PDF of the French version of the calendar here
Free workshops, talks, interactive programming and chances to connect will be offered starting November 3. The key aspects of the Convention including the NFU’s lively elections, debates on resolutions, national and regional reports will be held November 25 – 28.
This year’s convention includes:
- talks by respected national voices on agroecology, food sovereignty, seed issues, social justice and more
- online social hours and coffee breaks where people across the country can meet
- interactive sessions for conversations about resilient farm and food systems.
- Keynote speaker Seth Klein presents A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency at 3 PM Pacific, November 26
Check here for speaker bios and here for detailed program information and please note – all event times are in Pacific Time – adjust for your own time zone.
Virtual Book Table! Buy your books from Saskatoon’s independent bookseller Turning the Tide! They normally table at our Saskatoon conventions. This year they have curated a special selection for us at their online bookstore . Use the promo code NFU2020 at the checkout to get 50% off shipping on orders over $50 or free shipping on orders over $75.
Sponsorship
This year’s National Convention is titled Vision20/20 |Vision 20/20. The NFU will engage its membership and share its activities over the past year, while presenting fascinating speakers on a wide range of topics including agroecology, food sovereignty, agricultural trade issues and social justice. Learn more here.
The National Convention is an opportunity for farmers, activists, and the general public to connect with great businesses and organizations. We offer a wide variety of options for sponsorship.
Tuesday November 3
Workshop: Agroecology Fits!
Does farm size matter when it comes to putting agroecology into action? In this webinar, Dr. Martin Entz will talk about his research on natural systems agriculture work. He focusses on designing sustainable, productive and resilient agricultural systems that empower people on different sizes and types of farms across Canada and internationally. You may be surprised to discover how well agroecology fits your farm!
This webinar on Tuesday November 3 at noon Pacific time free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Thursday November 5
Workshop: Work it!
Farm Labour Affects Us All
Since 1966, seasonal agricultural migrant workers have arrived annually to provide crucial labour on farms across the country. This year, outbreaks of COVID-19 in large Canadian greenhouses, farms, and meat processing plants endangered the health and safety of many migrant workers and led to the tragic deaths of Bonifacio Eugenio Romero, Rogelio Muñoz Santos, and Juan Lopez Chaparro in Southwestern Ontario. The treatment of migrant workers has deeply impacted all farmers, even those of us who do not rely on migrant workers. Migrant workers are denied basic statutory labour rights and are often subject to degrading and unhealthy living conditions while in Canada. That is why the NFU has joined calls for regulatory changes so that migrant workers can change jobs without threat of deportation, have full access to health care and other employee benefits, and be granted permanent residency status. This webinar, organized by the NFU Migrant Worker Subcommittee, brings together an academic (Dr. Jenna Hennebry), a NFU farmer (Jenn Pfenning), and migrant justice activists (Karen Cocq and Chris Ramsaroop) who are playing leading roles in advancing migrant workers’ rights and advocating fundamental changes to our temporary foreign worker programs. Join us to hear about their efforts and to learn about how you can support just and fair agricultural labour in Canada.
This webinar on Thursday November 5 at noon Pacific time is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available
Dr. Jenna Hennebry
Dr. Jenna Hennebry (Ph.D.) is an internationally recognized scholar, co-founding Director of the International Migration Research Centre (www.imrc.ca ), and Associate Professor in Wilfrid Laurier’s Communication Studies Department and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Her expertise centres on labour migration, with an emphasis on labour migration governance and gender-responsive migration policy, migrant workers’ rights, health, access to decent work and social protection. Hennebry is a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees Subcommittee on Migrant Workers, the IOM’s Migration Research Leaders’ Syndicate, the UN Expert Working Group on Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration, and was recently named to the UN Migration Network’s Thematic Working Group 4 on Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements. In response to COVID-19, she co-founded the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group (migrantworker.ca) that has developed recommendations for the COVID-19 pandemic response for migrant workers, building on her record of empirical research with migrant agricultural workers in Canada for over 15 years, including the largest survey of migrant agricultural workers to date.
Join Dr Hennebry at the Work It! webinar on Thursday November 5 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Jenn Pfenning
Jenn is a family owner and the Director of Human Resources, Marketing and Operations at Pfenning’s Organic Farm in New Hamburg, Ontario. Pfenning enjoys working alongside local and migrant workers to produce food that serves her passion for healthy living, food justice and strong community. Jenn is an active participant in boards and committees. She is the past President of the National Farmers’ Union Local 340 – Waterloo Wellington and served on the Foodshare Toronto Board of Directors for seven years. She also served on the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable and is the past president of the Organic Council of Ontario. Presently, Jenn is the Canadian representative on the Migration Collective of the international peasant movement, La Via Campesina, and Chair of the NFU Migrant Worker Subcommittee.
Join Jenn at the Work It! webinar on Thursday November 5 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required.
Jenn will also be a speaker in the Convention session From Vision to Action on Saturday November 28.
Karen Cocq
Karen Cocq is Campaigns Coordinator for the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. Cocq has been active in migrant justice, workers’ rights, and anti-poverty organizing for almost two decades. The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) provides direct support to the self-organization of migrant workers – specifically farm workers, care workers and current and former migrant students – in order to build workers’ power to self-advocate and collectively organize for change. MWAC is also a coalition of migrant worker groups and organizations that support migrant workers, including unions, legal clinics, community groups and researchers. The coalition fights for justice and dignity for migrant workers by amplifying migrant worker demands and campaigns for policy and legislative change.
Join Karen at the Work It! webinar on Thursday November 5 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Chris Ramsaroop
Chris Ramsaroop is an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers. He is also an instructor in the Caribbean Studies Program at the University of Toronto and a clinic instructor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Ramsaroop is working to complete his PhD at OISE/University of Toronto. Justicia for Migrant Workers is a grassroots activist collective that has been organizing with migrant workers for nearly 20 years. Justicia’s work is based on building long term trust and relationships with migrant workers and includes: engaging in direct actions, working with workers to resist at work, launching precedent setting legal cases, and organizing numerous collective actions.
Join Chris at the Work It! webinar on Thursday November 5 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Friday November 6
NFU Social Hour
Join progressive farmers from Coast to Coast! All ages are welcome for this unstructured, but always fascinating, social hour. We’ll use breakout rooms for conversations that transcend the digital. Catch up with old friends; make new ones; introduce yourself; and hear what is on everyone’s mind across Canada.
Tuesday November 10
Workshop: Indigenous solidarity: Past, present, and future
The National Farmers Union is committed to reconciliation: being truthful about our own history is vital for that process. Historian Sarah Carter’s work provides a foundation for understanding today’s issues around decolonization and reconciliation, and sheds light on how the policies of yesterday have profoundly shaped today’s reality. Dawn Morrison will connect our past with our present, and will invite us to consider how Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of food sovereignty can bring about a more just future. Hosted by the NFU’s Indigenous Solidarity Working Group.
This webinar on Tuesday November 10 at noon Pacific time is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Sarah Carter
Historian Sarah Carter studies the history of Western Canada and the critical era that began in the late nineteenth century when Aboriginal people were dispossessed and a new population established. She looks into the colonial roots of inequality and discrimination in Western Canada—whose interests these inequities served, how and why they became so deeply embedded and durable in social, cultural and economic life, and how these colonial histories continue to shape the present.
Sarah Carter has received many prestigious awards for her work, most recently the Killam Prize in the Humanities. She is the author of Imperial Plots: Women, Land, and the Spadework of British Colonialism on the Canadian Prairies; Lost Harvests: Prairie Indian Reserve Farmers and Government Policies, and The Importance of Being Monogamous: Marriage and Nation-Building in Western Canada.
Join Sarah for the webinar Indigenous solidarity: Past, present and future on Tuesday November 10 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Dawn Morrison
Dawn is of Secwepemc ancestry and is the Founder/Curator of the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty. Since 1983 Dawn has worked and studied horticulture, ethno-botany, adult education, and restoration of natural systems in formal institutions, as well as through her own personal and community healing and learning journey. Following the year’s she spent teaching Aboriginal Adult Basic Education, Dawn has been dedicating her time and energy to land based healing and learning which led her to her life’s work of realizing herself more fully as a developing spirit aligned leader in the Indigenous food sovereignty movement. Dawn has consistently organized and held the space over the last 15 years for mobilizing knowledge and networks towards a just transition from the basis of decolonizing food systems in community, regional and international networks where she has become internationally recognized as a published author. Dawn’s work on the Decolonizing Research and Relationships is focused on creating a critical pathway of consciousness, that shines a light on the cross-cultural interface where Indigenous Food Sovereignty meets, social justice, climate change and regenerative food systems research, action and policy, planning and governance.
Some of the projects Dawn is leading include: Wild Salmon Caravan, Indigenous Food and Freedom School and, Dismantling Structural Racism in the Food System, and Tsilhqot’in National Government Food Security/Sovereignty Project.
Join Dawn for the webinar Indigenous solidarity: Past, present and future on Tuesday November 10 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Thursday November 12
Workshop: Seeding the Public Interest
It all starts with a seed …. But how do we know that the seed we plant will grow well and produce a good crop? Canada’s seed system was originally created to prevent unscrupulous dealers from selling low quality, dirty, or diseased seed to farmers. Over the decades Canada’s public interest seed system has created crops that thrive in our harsh climate. These high quality crops command premium prices in international and domestic markets. Farmers, export customers, the food processing industry, and consumers all depend on the quality assurance the integrity of our public interest-based seed system provides. NFU seed expert Terry Boehm and Ken Larsen will share their knowledge about how the many parts of our seed system work together to deliver the seed we need.
This webinar on Thursday November 12 at noon Pacific time is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Terry Boehm
Terry Boehm has had a long involvement with the National Farmers Union, having served for many years on the Board of Directors including as Vice President, and was its President from 2010 until 2013. Prior to that, he was Chair of the NFU’s Transportation Committee. He has been analyzing legislation, trade agreements, government papers and reports, academic journals and reports, and corporate data as part of his work for the NFU. He has developed a keen interest and expertise in rail transport legislation, international trade, biotechnology, intellectual property issues (mainly as they relate to seed), seed legislation and variety registration systems in Canada. In addition, he is actively working to defend the Canadian Grain Commission and Supply Management, to maintain these institutions with their original intent to protect and advance the interests of farmers. He was also was a leader in the fight to save the Canadian Wheat Board. He has participated in and asked to speak at numerous national and international events on many of these subject areas.
Terry has also served on several other boards over the years including retail Co-op, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission, AIMS, the Producer Car Coalition, and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan where he studied History, Economics and Political Science. Terry farms 4,000 acres with his parents 70 kilometres south east of Saskatoon. They grow wheat, durum, barley, yellow mustard, flax, canola, peas, and lentils. It is a family farm, conventional with some organic acres as well.
Ken Larsen
Ken Larsen is a graduate of the University of Alberta (’76) and a full-time farmer. Married with two children, for the past 44 years he and his wife have produced grains, forages, and cattle west of Red Deer, Alberta. Ken has been involved in numerous recreational, environmental, cultural, and scientific organizations, and has published many articles on agricultural marketing, plant breeding, and transportation issues. He is an occasional commentator on CBC radio and has been invited to address university business and genetics classes and various House of Commons and Senate Committees and has been actively involved in the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), agricultural marketing, plant breeding, and transportation issues. Ken has also written published the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance blog since 2011.
Join Ken at the Seeding the Public Interest webinar on Thursday November 12 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Friday November 13
NFU Social Hour
Join progressive farmers from Coast to Coast! All ages are welcome for this unstructured, but always fascinating, social hour. We’ll use breakout rooms for conversations that transcend the digital. Catch up with old friends; make new ones; introduce yourself; and hear what is on everyone’s mind across Canada.
To join, register either for the Full Convention or Webinars Only and link in! There is no cost, so bring friends! Introduce them to the great people of the NFU — they will be floored by the depth of intelligence, commitment, and connection.
Social Hours start at 5 pm Pacific / 6 pm Mountain / 7 pm Central / 8 pm Eastern / 9 pm Atlantic
Saturday November 14
Kids’ Activities
Stana Luxford Oddie
Senior Conservation Education for Cataraqui Conservation in Kingston, Ontario, Stana Luxford Oddie is accredited by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. Stana has decades of experience connecting kids and people of all ages to nature. She can’t wait to work with NFU kids!
Treasures Across the Country!
Discover treasures right in your own backyard. You will be invited to go outside to your backyard to see what cool discoveries that you can find. Instead of a traditional scavenger hunt where you are told what to find, this is a chance to discover many treasures and bring back stories of your discoveries, maybe even the treasure itself! We will all return together to gather, share and learn what treasures can be found right in everyone’s backyards across the country! Be prepared to go outside. You might want warm layers and any outdoor clothing to feel comfortable outside.
Sit spot and the Art of Noticing
For kids of all ages. All welcome from ages 6 – 106 years old! During this experiential workshop, you’ll learn the art of sit spot practice. The art of sitting helps you to notice and make friends with beings large and small in your backyard! In this session, you will be invited to go outside into your backyard and experience a sit spot practice. Some of the potential side effects of sit spot practice are greater feelings of connection, creativity, mental well being, curiosity and so much more. Be prepared to go outside. You might want warm layers, something to sit on, a blanket and anything else to feel comfortable.
All workshops are free and feature unlimited participation.
Youth Caucus
Join Youth from Coast to Coast to address issues facing young farmers and plan youth activities for the upcoming year and beyond. This dynamic youth caucus is open to youth ages 14 to 35. Your voice will be heard and your energy will be put to work!
Joining the Youth Caucus is free, but you might want to participate in the democratic process as we debate resolutions for NFU policy and action, by joining the Full Convention at the Youth rate of $35. Additional webinars are included in the Full Convention. Or, join the Webinars Only for free. Register for either here.
The Youth Caucus meets from 2-6 pm Pacific / 3-7 Mountain / 4-8 Central / 5-9 Eastern / 6-10 Atlantic. Wherever you are, join in!
Sunday November 15
Women’s Caucus
It’s not just women! Connect with people of all genders across the country. Talk about issues affecting your lives and actions we can take together, on a systemic level, to change the systems that aren’t working on behalf of us, as people.
To join (it’s free!), please register for the Full Convention (which isn’t free, but such a great deal to witness actual democracy in action as farm members debate resolutions of top interest) or the free Webinars Only. Check out both options here.
8-10 am Pacific / 9-11 Mountain / 10-noon Central / 11am-1pm Eastern / noon-2pm Atlantic
then, rejoin us after a break. The second half is from
11-1 pm Pacific / noon-2 Mountain / 1-3 pm Central / 2-4 pm Eastern / 3-5 pm Atlantic
Monday November 16
Workshop: It’s Not You – Taking Action on Rural Mental Health
The systemic, intentional degradation of the family farm and the hollowing out of rural and remote communities has been a significant driver in creating the grinding stress that agricultural people live with. The NFU has been resisting the corporatization of agriculture for 50 years, partly because we knew this would be one of the results, that our physical/mental health and well -being would be profoundly affected, and that the symptoms would be viewed as individual physical and mental health problems to be “fixed”, not political in nature or origin. In this system, farmers and farm workers are expected to “produce” and not question the underlying causes of strife and dis-ease.
The way we conceptualize “mental health” in the modern world, speaks volumes about the power of individualizing problems as an effective tool in keeping us from coming together and effectively organizing for change. As a mammal species, we are hardwired to connect. Yet, the pressures we face often take us out of connection with each other, ourselves, our communities and the greater human and more than human family, and force us to spend a disproportionate amount of time in the survival states of conservation (freeze) and protection (Flight & Fight). While these states of our autonomic nervous system are essential, they cannot, support connection, safety, creativity or cognitive clarity.
In this presentation led by Toby Malloy, we will discuss and question corporate/political agendas that have brought us to this place, the effects of industrialization on connection, and what changes need to take place to support healing, promote health for all, and cultivate relationships between activism and wellness.
This webinar is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Toby Malloy
Toby Malloy is an NFU member and the Region 7 Women’s Advisory representative. She lives and works in Nanton Alberta where she and her husband Lance have a mixed farm. Off the farm Toby is a Master’s level social worker who has been working as a counsellor and resource worker in rural mental health and addictions since 2005. She currently serves her community as a counsellor for the Calgary Rural Primary Care Network and has a small private practice focussing on trauma work. She enjoys long walks in the pasture and writing songs about life, love and livestock.
Join Toby at the webinar It’s not you – Taking Action on Rural Mental Health on Monday November 16 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Tuesday November 17
Workshop: The Climate Crisis and Agriculture: The Global View and On Farm Responses
How will climate change affect our farms? How might it affect government policies? How can we build resilience? How can we reduce emissions? What can I do on my farm?
Janet Ranganathan, Vice President for Research, Data, and Innovation at the World Resources Institute will lay out the big-picture in terms of global and North American climate impacts and potential agricultural emission-reduction measures. Alberta farmer Takota Coen will give a virtual tour of his farm and his family’s work to build resilience and a sustainable farming system that has reduced emissions and enriched soils . NFU Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action Darrin Qualman will introduce the speakers and provide an overview of NFU policy work on emissions reduction and climate adaptation. All webinar participants can engage in discussions regarding the intersection of climate impacts, on-farm responses, and policy solutions.
This webinar on Tuesday November 17 at noon Pacific time is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Janet Ranganathan
Janet Ranganathan is the Vice President for Research, Data, and Innovation at the World Resources Institute, an action-oriented global research organization that works in more than 50 countries, with offices in the United States, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Ethiopia, DRC, and Europe. She plays a lead role in ensuring that WRI’s research and data is robust and actionable across WRI’s seven programs: Food, Forest, Water, Climate, Energy, Ocean, and Cities.
During her tenure, Janet has held diverse positions across WRI. She has rolled out numerous initiatives to address the root causes of poverty and environmental degradation, including Resource Watch, Better Buying Lab and Creating a Sustainable Food Future. Janet founded and led the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, an international multi-stakeholder partnership convened by WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to develop international greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standards.
Janet is Vice-Chair of the Ceres Board of Directors and a member of WRI Europe and WRI Brazil’s boards. She serves on the advisory boards of WRI Africa, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative), and the U.K. Research and Innovation and Natural Environment Research Council Digital Environment Expert Network.
Join Janet at the webinar The Climate Crisis and Agriculture: The Global View and On-Farm Responses on Tuesday November 17 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Takota Coen
Takota Coen is the co-owner of a 250 acre second generation organic farm in Central Alberta that raises milk fed pork, grass fed beef, free range eggs, forest garden berries and herbal teas. In addition to farming, he is also an author and educator who works with other land stewards world-wide to help regenerate the health of their little piece of the planet. He holds a Permaculture Design Certificates from The Permaculture Research Institute, a Holistic Management Certificate from Holistic Management International, and a Red Seal Journeyman Certificate for Carpentry.
Join Takota at the webinar The Climate Crisis and Agriculture: The Global View and On-Farm Responses on Tuesday November 17 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Wednesday November 18
Youth Social
Join NFU Youth to connect from coast to coast. Old friends and new. Bring your 2020 experience for story sharing and commiserating.
Thursday November 19
Workshop: Mooove over Cargill!
Corporate consolidation in the livestock sector has made things worse for farmers, workers, consumers, and the ecosystem.
Speaker Devlin Kuyek will look at how Canada’s livestock and meat system changed from a dispersed, regional, Canadian-owned sector to the highly concentrated, foreign owned system we have today – and the impacts this change has had. Tony McQuail will explain how livestock plays a role in ecological food systems today. And together, webinar participants will discuss and envision a better future for farmers, workers, consumers, animals and the environment – and propose new policy ideas that can take us towards a vision of agroecology and food sovereignty for Canada.
This webinar on Thursday November 19 at noon Pacific time is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Devlin Kuyek
Devlin Kuyek is a researcher at GRAIN, a small international non-profit organisation that supports small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. He monitors and analyses global agribusiness, including the global land rush and corporate concentration in the livestock sector. Devlin co-authored the major 2018 report Emissions impossible: How big meat and dairy are heating up the planet. Based in Montreal, he spends time supporting GRAIN’s partners and staff globally as much as possible.
Join Devlin at the webinar Mooove over Cargill! on Thursday November 19 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Tony McQuail
Tony McQuail was an early adopter of rotational grazing and has decades of experience in pasture management and fencing systems. At Meeting Place Organic Farm at Lucknow, Ontario the McQuail family raises grass-fed and grass-finished beef, pastured pork and pastured poultry, and have experimented with cocktail cover crops. They often use horses for farm work. Under their nearly 50 years of stewardship, the farm’s soil organic matter has risen from 1.5 % to a between 3.5 and 7%. Tony and his wife Fran continue to be actively involved after transferring the farm operation to their daughter Katrina. Tony, who has a degree in Environmental Studies, is also active in knowledge-sharing through on-farm apprenticing and farm training programs, developing government policy, and his involvement in several farm organizations, including the NFU.
Join Tony at the webinar Mooove over Cargill! on Thursday November 19 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required. All webinars, socials and convention events are included in the Full Convention registration. To participate in one or more free webinars only, please choose the Webinars Only option.
Friday November 20
NFU Social Hour and Resolutions Development
Join progressive farmers from Coast to Coast! All ages are welcome for this social hour. We’ll catch up with friends old and new and we’ll work on crafting resolutions together.
Saturday November 21
International Program Committee Meeting
Join the International Program Committee of the NFU to hear about the work we’ve done over the past year and to participate in planning for the coming year. The meeting will include international updates on La Via Campesina and the Civil Society Mechanism, and local updates from the Migrant Worker Subcommittee and the Indigenous Solidarity Working Group. We will also elect our chairs for the year, draft emergency resolutions as needed, and determine our focus and collective work going forward. We welcome your input and participation!
Joining the IPC Meeting is free, but you might want to participate in the democratic process as we debate resolutions for NFU policy and action, by joining the Full Convention. Additional webinars are included in the Full Convention. Or, join the Webinars Only for free. Register for either here.
The IPC meets from 2-4 pm Pacific / 3-5 Mountain / 4-6 Central / 5-7 Eastern / 6-8 Atlantic. Wherever you are, join in!
Monday November 23
BIPOC Working Group
Let’s meet and organize! BIPOC farmers and eaters from coast to coast will meet to talk about creating a BIPOC group within the NFU. All ages are welcome. Members and non-members are invited, but for this first meeting, we ask that only people who self-identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) attend.
We’ll also spend some time just getting to know each other.
Joining the BIPOC Working Group is free – to participate register for the Webinars Only option on the registration page. You might want to participate in the democratic process as we debate resolutions for NFU policy and action by joining the Full Convention, which includes additional webinars as well as the BIPOC Working Group event. Register for either here.
The BIPOC Working Group meets Monday November 23rd from 11am-2pm Pacific / 12-3 Mountain / 1-4 Central / 2-5 Eastern / 3-6 Atlantic. Wherever you are, join in!
Wednesday November 25
Convention begins – 2020 Reflections
Whew! 2020 is nearly over, and we can start looking at it in the rear-view mirror.
Our first session begins at 4 PM Pacific time (adjust for your time zone). Log-in for a time of welcoming, sharing and visiting with your fellow-conference goers.
2020 Reflections
The pandemic, climate change, and world politics have all made 2020 one for the history books. We’ll hear reflections on this remarkable year from NFU farmers across the country. Panelists Julia Smith, Stephanie Laing, Douglas Campbell and Glenn Wright will give us a snapshot of their experience as farmers in this very unusual year.
Download a detailed convention agenda here
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Julia Smith
Julia and her partner Ludo are doing their best to preserve an endangered heritage breed hog, the Red Wattle, currently at risk of becoming extinct in Canada. Julia also works with a number of local ranchers and the cattle who spend much of the year ranging the grasslands that surround the farm. Located in the Nicola Valley in Southern British Columbia, the farm is completely off-grid and primarily solar-powered. When faced with the realization that they would not be able to scale their operation as planned due to meat processing bottlenecks, Julia rallied other producers in the province who were facing the same issue and started the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association in early 2018. Since then, Julia has served as President and along with a volunteer board made up entirely of farmers and ranchers has been very actively engaging with government and industry to build greater stability and growth opportunities for small-scale meat producers in British Columbia. She also serves on the NFU livestock committee and is looking forward to opportunities for greater collaboration with like-minded producers across the country.
Stephanie Laing
Stephanie has been growing vegetables on ten acres in Prince Edward County since 2012. She and her partner Heather feed over 400 farm share families with summer, winter, and spring vegetable boxes. Stephanie’s experience of 2020 mirrors that of many produce farmers. Her farm faced substantial disruptions to labour, distribution, and supply systems. Surviving these disruptions required pivoting the farm on the fly by redesigning distribution systems, adapting to a lack of labour, and investing in key areas to help the farm survive.
Douglas Campbell
Doug Campbell lives on Prince Edward Island, where up until Nov 2019, he was a 2nd generation dairy farmer. He now works for a oil seed company Natures Crops, which grows grows and refine oil seeds for a variety of uses on the global market. For the past four years Doug has been District Director for District 1 Region (Prince Edward Island) of the National Farmers Union.
Glenn Wright
Glenn grew up as a city kid in Saskatoon, SK in the 1980s. He caught the farming bug when young because all of his extended family farmed. He wasn’t fortunate enough to inherit a family farm, but determined to live in the country, he and his wife moved to establish their own small farm near Saskatoon in 2004. He has worked as a mechanical engineer for 20 years and more recently switched to practicing law to support his farming habit with off farm income. They now farm about 750 acres near Delisle, SK, growing cereals, canola, lentils, forage, and working with their neighbors to compliment their livestock operations.
Glenn and his family are environmentalists that have devoted significant effort to reducing their footprint and living sustainably, He says “It has been a learning process as we are certainly the black sheep in our community. We have completed a super-insulation retrofit on our house, installed solar power, we drive an electric car, converted to geothermal heat, suspended our natural gas service, and adopted minimum input farming techniques. Upon conducting a calculated review of all of our initiatives, adopting minimum input farming appears to have had the greatest impact on emissions reduction for our household. I am happy to share and discuss our activities and admit that we have tackled these initiatives in the wrong order. Like most farmers, we learn to do by doing.”
Thursday November 26
Convention Day including “Vision for a Post-COVID Food System”
COVID -19 has shaken our world. It has exposed vulnerabilities, weakness and injustice as well as people’s resilience, strengths and ability to care for one another. As lives are tossed into turmoil and uncertainty with each wave of this pandemic, it is clear that we will not be going back to “normal” as we knew it in 2019. Like every crisis, this one brings both danger and opportunity. Our speakers, Trent University professor Haroon Akram-Lodhi and NFU Director of Research Cathy Holtslander, will talk about how the global food system is one of the drivers of pandemics like COVID, and about how Envisioning a Post-COVID Agriculture and Food System can help us build a more pandemic-resistant and just food system. This panel begins at 11:30 AM Pacific time.
Thursday’s program also includes:
- Welcomes from across the continent
- Steering Committee Report; Appointment of the Resolutions Committee
- Year-in-Review from NFU Leaders & Caucuses
- Opportunities to meet in small groups
- Debate and voting on Resolutions
- The Financial Report (in-camera – NFU members only) & appointment of the auditor
Keynote presentation
A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency with Seth Klein
“This is the roadmap out of climate crisis that Canadians have been waiting for.” — Naomi Klein, activist and New York Times bestselling author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
- One of Canada’s top policy analysts provides the first full-scale blueprint for meeting our climate change commitments
- Contains the results of a national poll on Canadians’ attitudes to the climate crisis
- Shows that radical transformative climate action can be done, while producing jobs and reducing inequality as we retool how we live and work.
- Deeply researched and targeted specifically to Canada and Canadians while providing a model that other countries could follow
Canada needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in the earth’s average temperature — assumed by many scientists to be a critical “danger line” for the planet and human life as we know it.
It’s 2020, and Canada is not on track to meet our targets. To do so, we’ll need radical systemic change to how we live and work—and fast. How can we ever achieve this?
Top policy analyst and author Seth Klein reveals we can do it now because we’ve done it before. During the Second World War, Canadian citizens and government remade the economy by retooling factories, transforming their workforce, and making the war effort a common cause for all Canadians to contribute to.
Klein demonstrates how wartime thinking and community efforts can be repurposed today for Canada’s own Green New Deal. He shares how we can create jobs and reduce inequality while tackling our climate obligations for a climate neutral—or even climate zero—future. From enlisting broad public support for new economic models, to job creation through investment in green infrastructure, Klein shows us a bold, practical policy plan for Canada’s sustainable future. More than this: A Good War offers a remarkably hopeful message for how we can meet the defining challenge of our lives.
COVID-19 has brought a previously unthinkable pace of change to the world—one which demonstrates our ability to adapt rapidly when we’re at risk. Many recent changes are what Klein proposes in these very pages. The world can, actually, turn on a dime if necessary. This is the blueprint for how to do it.
The Keynote Address will be given on Thursday November 26 at 3 PM Pacific time. The keynote event is included in Full Convention Registration package. For those unable to attend the full convention, tickets are also available for the keynote event only. Visit the Registration Page to secure your spot.
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available
Friday November 27
Zooming Out: NFU and global solidarity
Members of the NFU’s IPC Committee will provide a primer on the international solidarity work of the NFU! Through a series of “snapshots”, presenters will take you through how the National Farmers Union began making international connections, contributed to the formation of the international peasant movement La Via Campesina, and continues the work of building global solidarity while pursuing justice at home. The session will explore why working collectively at all levels is imperative to achieving the food and agricultural systems we are trying to build. This panel begins a 9:15 AM Pacific Time.
Friday’s program also includes:
- Resolution debate and voting
- Election of NFU Presidential Officers
- Presentation of the Beingessner Award for youth writing
- Grassroots awards
- Remembrances
- Break-out rooms for informal visiting
- Live music
Download a detailed convention agenda here
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Music: Terry Morrison & Sean Conway
Cree Metis singer-songwriter Terry Morrison and Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician Sean Conway will share their music with us from 5:00 – 6:30 PM Pacific time.
Terry Morrison
Singer/Songwriter Terry Morrison is a long time member of the Canadian musical community.
An accomplished guitar player, Morrison’s unique sense of melody and phrasing create her own inimitable brand of contemporary roots music. Delivered in a rich sensual voice, her songs reflect a compassionate and innate intelligence.
Terry has 5 CD’s of original music to her credit and is featured on a number of compilations including Smithsonian Folkways recording ‘Wild Roses Northern Lights’, a collection of songs by Alberta Songwriters.
Terry identifies as Cree Metis. Originally from Edmonton in Treaty 6 territory she now resides in Nanton, Alberta, located on Treaty 7 lands.
Sean Conway
“Sean Conway is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg musician, political activist and hobby gardener from Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario.
He has been performing from coast-to-coast-to-coast for over a decade with both his own music and songwriting or as an in-demand session guitarist with many Canadian roots, rock and country acts.
Sometimes described as mix between Nick Lowe, Bob Wills and David Byrne — Conway brings a little something for everyone with each performance.”
These musical performances are included in the Convention package.
Saturday November 28
From Vision to Action
We have the 20/20 vision, road map, courage and determination to build the post-pandemic food system we want and need! Arzeena Hamir, Anastasia Fyk, Brendan Grant and Jenn Pfenning are leading the movement on their farms and in their communities. This panel begins at 12 noon Pacific time.
In addition to the panel, this dynamic final day of Convention will include:
- Debate and voting on one Constitutional Amendment
- Resolutions
- Election of Vice Presidential officers
- Chances to connect in small groups
- Report of the Credentials Committee
- Installation of all 2020-21 officials
- Closing address by the NFU President
- Singing of Solidarity Forever/Solidarité mes frères et mes sœurs
Download a detailed convention agenda here
Simultaneous translation (English/French) will be available.
Arzeena Hamir
Arzeena Hamir and her husband Neil own Amara Farm, a 26-acre certified organic farm in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. The farm grows over 40 different fruits and vegetables and primarily sells through direct markets via their local farmers market and a CSA program. The couple decided early on to invest in alternative energy and installed a geothermal heating system for their home and in 2019 installed a 10KW solar array. On the farm, they have tried to limit tillage with the use of overwintering silage tarps and diversifying into more perennial crops to sequester more carbon. In 2018 Arzeena was elected the Board of the Comox Valley Regional District where she sits as Vice Chair.
Anastasia Fyk
Anastasia, an NFU member and national board member for Region 5 (Manitoba), grew up on her family farm located on Treaty 2 Territory on the Eastern slopes of Duck Mountain. She is a descendant of Ukrainian settlers who established themselves on this same farm in 1904. Her ancestors grew buckwheat and wheat in Ukraine and she reinforces her connection to them with each year’s crop. In 2019 her family built a buckwheat processing facility so that surrounding communities could savour local crops rather than have them shipped to the other side of the world. As a farmer, she is interested in a shift in conventional agriculture that would actually have a positive environmental impact on the ecosystem; she is determined to leave a positive impact on the planet and the health of its inhabitants. Aside from farming, Anastasia is also an artist, translator, and pilot whose practice focuses on planes, dimensions, and cycles.
Brendan Grant
Brendan and his wife Marcelle Paulin own Sleepy G Farm along the north shore of Lake Superior near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Brendan is the current president of NFU Local 333, which represents NFU members across all of Northern Ontario.
A strong advocate of developing regional food systems, Brendan has spent 15 years building a highly productive farm in a region with significant climate limitations and a modest agricultural history. Brendan built an on-farm winter vegetable storage facility that enables the farm to wholesale and direct market certified organic vegetables to local consumers nearly year-round. Brendan asserts that farming is a professional occupation, and that robust regional food systems are only possible when farmers can realize financial success with their farm businesses. Brendan believes that climate change poses both challenges and opportunities for agriculture, and the key to food security in the future is to get more farmers in the field now.
Jenn Pfenning
Jenn is a family owner and the Director of Human Resources, Marketing and Operations at Pfenning’s Organic Farm in New Hamburg, Ontario. Pfenning enjoys working alongside local and migrant workers to produce food that serves her passion for healthy living, food justice and strong community. Jenn is an active participant in boards and committees. She is the past President of the National Farmers’ Union Local 340 – Waterloo Wellington and served on the Foodshare Toronto Board of Directors for seven years. She also served on the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable and is the past president of the Organic Council of Ontario. Presently, Jenn is the Canadian representative on the Migration Collective of the international peasant movement, La Via Campesina, and Chair of the NFU Migrant Worker Subcommittee.
Join Jenn at the Work It! webinar on Thursday November 5 at 12 noon Pacific time. It is free of charge and open to the public, but registration is required.
Jenn will also be a speaker in the Convention session From Vision to Action on Saturday November 28.
Convention Sponsors
