The party promises to protect supply management and increase livestock processing capacity
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
With election day in Canada less than a month away, Farms.com is going through the platforms of the five parties with elected Members of Parliament (Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Green Party and Bloc Quebecois) to discover what each party has in store for the ag sector and rural Canada.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and his party are looking to continue the momentum gained in the 2019 federal election when the Bloc won 22 additional seats for a total of 32 representatives in Ottawa.
Blanchet unveiled the party’s platform in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. on Sunday.
Because the document is in French, Farms.com used a program to translate parts of the platform.
In terms of agriculture, the Bloc “will reintroduce a bill to fully protect supply management in future trade agreements,” the translated document says. The Bloc also promises to ensure farmers are compensated for Canada’s concessions in trade deals.
The party commits to study increasing livestock processing capacity and to “recognize the multifunctionality of farmers in its financial support to recognize the contribution of small producers.”
The Bloc wants to ban the use of a crop protection product.
The use of neonicotinoids mustn’t continue, the party says.
“We must seek to eliminate pesticides of the neonicotinoid family and not to increase its use,” the Bloc’s platform says.
Instead, the party is calling for investments of up to $300 million to “search for an alternative solution and in support (of) agricultural producers during the transition.”
The party also is also proposing the labeling of GMOs, and a traceability plan from the federal government to help consumers track seafood and fight illegal fishing.
The platform also addresses climate change.
The Bloc is proposing an equalization program to reward provinces for taking measures to fight climate change.
Farms.com has also covered the NDP, Conservative, Liberal and Green platforms.