Canada has a new Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister after Mark Carney took over as Prime Minister last week. Kody Blois, an MP from the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants has been tapped for the role.
Blois says he has plenty of experience in the industry being raised in an area where agriculture is important.
"Our neighbours were farmers right next door. I have the most significant agricultural riding in Atlantic Canada. I know that pales sometimes in comparison to the size and scope in Western Canada, but you know, I have a lot of connections, grew up with folks who were in the farming industry. My cousins were dairy farmers in Nova Scotia in our riding so I never worked directly on the farm, with the exception of when I was playing junior hockey in Amherst, I used to date the dairy farmer's daughter, so I spent a little bit of time on the farm. But don't farm directly in our family."
Stepping into the role, Blois says it's a privilege to have a spot in the agricultural sector of Canada which provides food and income for people around the world.
Even though he's not from Western Canada he's connected with us before and is excited to do so again.
"In my first six years as the Chair of the Agriculture Committee at the House of Commons level, I've been to Saskatchewan five times in the last three years, I've been in Alberta, have connections to Manitoba, and I just want to highlight my first call in the job. I thought it was both important and substantive because of the issues that the agriculture sector is facing, but also symbolically, my first call as a minister was to Darrell Harrison, Saskatchewan's Minister of Agriculture, just to say 'Look, I wanna have a very constructive relationship. I know what the issues are for your province and I wanna make sure we have an open line of conversation.'"
He's similarly set up conversations with RJ Sigurdson, Alberta's Ag Minister, and Ron Kostyshyn, Maintoba's Ag Minister.
While it's likely that we'll see an election soon which will disrupt some federal work, Blois says he's ready to get out some new policy as soon as possible.
"My message to my deputy minister and our team here at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is we have to work like hell to get as many initiatives out the door as quickly as possible. It's not always the big billion-dollar programs. Yeah, farmers in the agriculture sector like that, but sometimes it's the small, regulatory stuff and it's the little initiatives that get in the way of economic growth."
While Blois can't give away any future plans, he says to expect movement from the office sometime in the next 24-48 hours as the federal government is dealing with the tariff situation down south and across the Pacific.
The message he'd like to convey to producers and industry organizations is that they'll try to reduce red tape, run decisions through a competitive lens, and do what they can to diversify trade.
One key priority for the new government has been around the Carbon Tax, with Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing that the consumer tax would be coming off and an order-in-council being put in place to have that come into effect on March 31.
Blois says that as he previously worked as a parliamentarian he pushed hard to see the consumer carbon tax taken off and is glad to see rebates still coming for next month.
He does support other environmental policies such as the Clean Fuel Standard, saying that these can boost industries such as biofuels which can be a big contributor to the agricultural sector.
As he steps into the role Blois says he wants to give his best wishes for the agriculture community across the country, especially in western Canada.
"I'm a friend to Western Canada, even though I'm a Maritimer. When I get out to Saskatchewan, when I'm in Alberta, when I'm in Manitoba, God, it feels like I'm home, in Hants County, the people are just so great and I can't wait till I get the chance to get out to the Prairie provinces."
Source : Pembinavalley online