Policy Areas

Need for universal childcare subsidies and a national pharmacare program

Rural women are experiencing disproportionate pandemic-related economic disadvantages due to more precarious employment in jobs with no health benefits. A Universal Pharmacare program and a Universal Childcare Subsidy will have an enormous positive impact, particularly among women, who have been the most hard-hit. Read more

Throne speech should support farmers and ranchers to reduce GHGs

Prime Minister, as you set a new agenda for Canada, we expect that in your Speech from the Throne you will prioritize food and farming and include “Supporting farmers to reduce emissions and build resilience.” Along with helping farm businesses recover from the pandemic, an investment in farmers will help to revitalize rural communities and help them prepare for the clean economy of the 21st century, while also protecting or enhancing biodiversity, water quality, and air quality. Read more

Urgent need for support to increase local and regional abattoir capacity

The increase in demand for locally produced food, particularly meat, in response to COVID has been widely reported all across Canada. This has the makings of an economic success story – a silver lining in the pandemic’s very dark cloud – but serious, targeted investment in to create and expand its infrastructure is needed to allow this emerging source of local prosperity to become well established. Read more

 2020 hindsight: Ending the Canadian Wheat Board was an economic tragedy

August 1st 2020 marks the 8th anniversary of one of the great economic tragedies in Canadian history. This was the day the wrecking ball swung by then Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz finally destroyed one of the most important institutions working for economic justice for farmers - the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). In a malicious act driven by wrong-headed doctrine, they chose to eliminate the CWB through the Orwellian-titled Marketing Freedom for Farmers Act. Read more

Is a $4 Billion Irrigation Expansion a Good Investment for Saskatchewan Farms?

The greatest threat to Saskatchewan farms is climate change. Thus, we should ask: should the Saskatchewan and federal governments spend $4 billion on irrigation infrastructure? Can this investment really protect a significant number of farms or acres from climate change? Or could the money be better spent on other projects or in other ways? How should we spend taxpayers’ limited dollars? Read more

Union Farmers Newsletter: July 2020

Inside this issue … Envisioning a Post-Pandemic Agriculture and Food System: A sustainable and just food system for Canada as proposed by the National Farmers Union to mitigate and prevent multiple cascading crises and provide the foundation of a good life. 2019 Farm Revenue and Expense Data: Farm income not as “high” as first appears, Read more

NFU asks necessary questions

Calls for increased transparency, clear guardrails on spending, and a basic appreciation for the economic realities facing our farmers should be enthusiastically welcomed in a province that clearly values the benefits farms bring to our communities. Read more

Emergency Processing Fund: NFU Input

We look forward to more details and good news about expanding our local and regional processing capacity to serve Canada livestock producers from coast to coast. Read more

Letter – Time to rebuild our meat processing system

Smaller, safer slaughter plants in each province would disperse threats to food security. If one plant was forced to close it would not disrupt the food chain across the entire country. Providing safe secure food from local farms to local consumers is entirely possible without putting meat packing workers at risk. Bigger is not always better.  Read more

Where Your Money Goes Matters

The National Farmers Union (NFU) and most Islanders were relieved when the federal and provincial governments took quick action to address COVID-19. The measures put in place helped curb the spread of the virus and saved many lives here in PEI and in other provinces and territories. The government spokespersons showed caring in addressing sincere Read more