Every poll is the same. Canadians are not happy. Norwood beef farmer John Lunn is one of 15 farmers polled by Farmers Forum about what ticks them off the most. Top of the list is the high cost of everything and federal government policies. (Nelson Zandbergen photo)

TICKED OFF: 62 % of country are pessimistic or angry about the federal government. Here’s what ticks off farmers

Patrick Meagher and Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum

OTTAWA — With no carbon-tax relief in sight, Ontario farmers emerged from a winter of discontent to another April Fool’s Day carbon-tax hike, topped off by a surprise capital-gains tax hike in the April federal budget.

Farm country is ticked off. But then so is the nation. An April 17 Nanos poll found a whopping 31 % of Canadians are angry about the federal government and another 31 % are pessimistic about the federal government. That is an astounding 62 % of the population that is not happy.

Farmers Forum spoke to 15 farmers to find out what ticks them off the most. Their gripes were widespread from criticism of the news media to difficulty hiring but topping the list was an inept federal government. From slapping on a carbon tax to high inflation, over-regulation and wasting money, farmers overwhelmingly traced the country’s malaise to Liberal government policies.
Farmers in particular feel ignored, said Norwood-area beef farmer John Lunn observed. “The government does not recognize agriculture as the economic driver that it is, and farmers are only 1.3 % of the vote, so we have no say with the government.”

“The state of the federal government is an awful big issue,” Port Perry cash cropper John Molloy observed. “It’s just a really bad situation, and that covers taxation rates and everything. The carbon tax is just a small fraction of the total tax bill. The tax bill is huge in Canada … Everything we do has a 50 % tax on it, it seems. If I sell, it’ll be 50 % capital gains tax. And then you’ve got the HST on everything including the carbon tax. It’s tax, tax, tax.”

The tax on carbon dioxide emissions, which in Canada has not been shown to affect global warming, is by far the issue that irks farmers most. “The carbon issue is all a lie,” Dunvegan dairy farmer Josef Odermatt said. “When you think about the carbon tax, it’s crazy.”

“Whether it’s home heating or corn-drying or fuelling tractors or fuelling road vehicles, (the carbon tax) is kicking the shit out of us,” Bainsville cash cropper Shawn McRae said. “Things are expensive enough without that. It’s just doubling down on the negative pressure against profitability. I’m of the opinion it’s nonsense to begin with because I’m not an anthropogenic global warming believer.”

In Western Ontario, Lambton County crop farmer Robert Johnston said the carbon created an uneven playing field with his American competitors who are not subject to a carbon tax. Johnston, who described himself as “a guy who has been pissed off for 35 years, and also took a swipe at the “lying mainstream media” for dwelling on a “worst-case” climate scenario that not even the United Nations believes.

Alexandria dairy farmer Andrew MacMillan highlighted federal government waste. “The government doesn’t have any clue about the goals and needs of the regular people of the country,” MacMillan said.

Other producers said they were ticked off with rising production and input costs relative to the value of what they produce or grow. Some cited a lack of public — or governmental — understanding about agriculture in general and the “lack of urban people knowing where the food is made and comes from,” Chesterville Holstein breeder and crop farmer Mark Smith said.

The public is “so disconnected from the reality of farming, it’s hard to show them when we have problems with the government,” Lefaivre dairy farmer Daniel Poirier said. “They only know food comes from the grocery store … As long as it’s cheap, even if it doesn’t come from Canada, it doesn’t matter to most people.”

My top 3 gripes

Canadians, farmers included seem discontent these days on a number of fronts. Farmers Forum asked 15 farmers what top three things are ticking them off. Here are some replies.

1. “More and more rules and regulations … when the government should just use common sense.”
2. “The carbon issue, which is all a lie. Like, how many times do I fly in an airplane? Every four years, maybe. I’m just on my farm doing my thing. Really, when you think about the carbon tax, it’s crazy.”
3. “Misconceptions about basic atmospheric science. People don’t understand that the higher you go in elevation, the lower the oxygen and CO2. Because I used to farm up in the mountains of Switzerland, 1,800 metres above sea level, and there was a big difference in productivity there compared to here. It was harder to breed cattle.”
Josef Odermatt
Dairy farmer
Dunvegan, Ont.

1.“Carbon tax, carbon tax, carbon tax.”
2. “Prices at the grocery store.”
3. “Throw in carbon tax again. Everything moves down the road to get to the processor, then from the processor to the supplier, and then to the grocery store. And then we’ve got to burn more fuel (and pay carbon tax) to go to the grocery store and pick up the groceries.”
Brent Vanden Bosch
Cash cropper
Chesterville, Ont.

1. “The CO2 tax is a big one. Whether it’s home heating or corn-drying or fuelling tractors or fuelling road vehicles, it’s kicking the shit out of us. It’s just a tax. This ridiculous notion that you make people wealthier by taxing them and then giving it back. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life.”
2. “I don’t like the proposed restrictions on internet communications and independent news media. That’s pretty ominous stuff. I get all of my news through independent media and internet based commentators. Putting shackles on that is not my cup of tea. To have that threatened is a real irritant.”
3. “Wasteful spending. Prime Minister Trudeau told a veteran that he’s going to take veterans to court because they were ‘asking for more than we are prepared to give,’ and he’s shovelling billions of dollars out the door, all over the world. There’s no excuse for that. We’re not even paying for it. It’s borrowed money. It’s putting our nation’s credibility and financial security at extreme risk, to say nothing of all the scandals. Our political system is dysfunctional.”
Shawn McRae
Cash cropper
South Glengarry

1. “The federal government doesn’t listen.”
2. “Fewer people are willing to work. Who’s going to work? We’re looking pretty soft. Who’s going to carry the torch? It doesn’t matter in what sector I talk to – the traders or retail – it is extremely difficult to find someone to put in 40 hours. When you see how few people are willing to take over businesses, it looks like a few people will run everything. We get zero applicants or someone with issues and nobody wants to buy the ag businesses.”
3. “Woke culture. We have to kneel to everyone who has feelings. It is difficult in the workplace when one person has certain feelings that become demands and everyone else has to abide by it. Other countries look at us and say “what are they doing? They are shooting themselves in the foot.”
Charlie Forman
Cash crop and greenhouse
Seeley’s Bay, Ont.

1. “The state of the federal government is an awful big issue. It’s just a really bad situation and that covers taxation rates and everything. The carbon tax is just a small fraction of the total tax bill. The tax bill is huge in Canada, and then you’ve got the HST on everything including the carbon tax. It’s tax, tax, tax.”
2. “People in the government who are doing very little, from municipal to federal. Doing nothing, practically, but still making $100,000 plus their benefit package and, of course, bonuses”
3. “Capital costs and input costs haven’t gone down. Bigger tractors are $700,000 or $800,000. Urea fertilizer is $750 a tonne, but that’s not delivered to the farm or spread on the fields. That’s still very, very expensive fertilizer, when you compare it to what we get for the crops”
John Molloy
Cash cropper
Port Perry, Ont.

1. “Carbon tax.”
2. “Foreign money buying farmland.”
3. “Not enough respect for farmers in Canada producing food. “
Doug Robinson
Dairy farmer
Finch, Ont.

1. “The government does not recognize agriculture as the economic driver that it is, and farmers are only 1.3 % of the vote, so we have no say with the government.”
2. “Canadian Food Inspection Agency rules that are not scientifically sound. Our processors (and farmers) spend a lot of money disposing of spinal material in hazardous waste sites to comply with the rules. But that same animal can be slaughtered in the U.S. and the spinal material imported into Canada for human consumption. I can’t bring an empty pallet back to the feed store, because of the CFIA rules, but a pallet-repair shop is allowed to return it.”
3. “Our agricultural safety net when compared to other countries (or even Quebec). The U.S. spends tons of money on their farmers.”
John Lunn
Beef farmer
Norwood, Ont.

1. “I think a pretty obvious one is our federal government and the amount of waste … The government doesn’t have any clue about the goals and needs of the regular people.”
2. “The government driving the inflation up and not doing anything about it, and adding carbon tax on top of it.”
3. “Interest rates are a problem for the country. It’s definitely adding a lot of cost to your business.”
Andrew MacMillan
Dairy farmer
Alexandria, Ont.