Family farms face extinction thanks to gov’t policies, public inquiry told

Farmers Forum staff

OTTAWA — In the wake of the Universal Ostrich Farms fiasco in British Columbia, a three-day private hearing last month considered the question: “Are farmers safe in Canada?”

The National Citizens’ Inquiry, an independent organization, received testimony under oath from experts and witnesses about a “national crisis” facing family farms because of excessive government regulation and overreach. Key issues raised include: bureaucratic decisions, such as mass animal culls based on suspicion alone; farmers’ fear of reprisal for speaking out against the authorities; and the disappearance of family farms.

The sessions took place in Kelowna, B.C. in March.

The sessions heard heart-wrenching accounts of the destruction of more than 300 healthy ostriches shot on the orders of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last November after a year of court battles. Federal authorities refused to test the big birds at the Edgewood, B.C., operation to verify whether or not they were carrying avian flu.

Jordan Kealy, a B.C. cattle producer and independent member of the provincial legislature, remarked on the changing relationship between citizens and the state. The government views people as “just assets,” Kealy warned. “Right now, we are in the cattle handling facility in the corral and, if we, the people, don’t choose to recognize how we are being handled and treated, we are going to be in the stock trailer going to the slaughterhouse.”

Some attendees linked small farm struggles to national policy failures and noted how red tape unfairly burdened smaller farms while appearing to pursue an endgame of long-term consolidation of large-scale systems and loss of resilience in Canada’s food supply. Another noted former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s infamous quote: “Who controls the food supply controls the people,” as an anti-family farm bias.

Witnesses tied personal stories to national concerns — food security, farmer mental and financial strain, and the risk that losing independent producers could centralize control over what Canadians eat. Organizers and attendees emphasized that these sworn accounts create a public record for accountability.

The National Citizens’ Inquiry was first established in 2022 as a response to the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 2023 and 2024, the group compiled the world’s largest body of evidence on the pandemic response given under oath, involving more than 350 witnesses. Finding that the institutions meant to protect the public had failed, the group expanded its investigations into other areas of national concern, including child safety and now agricultural security.

Watch more than 20 hours of testimony at nationalcitizensinquiry.ca