2 MPPs have proposed an Ontario foodbelt. Could it help tariff-proof the ag sector?
CBC
Two MPPs have put forward the idea of creating a "foodbelt" in Ontario to protect farmland and help tariff-proof the agricultural sector in the province.
The idea proposed by Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner and independent MPP Bobbi Ann Brady, who represents Haldimand-Norfolk, this week at Queen's Park would see a protected area, similar to how the Greenbelt works, but in this case it would be specifically for farmers' fields. Bill 21, Protect Our Food Act, passed first reading on Tuesday.
It's an idea Erin Shapero and Valerie Burke applaud. The two women proposed a similar idea in 2009 when they were city councillors in Markham and they wanted to protect farmland from developers.
"At the time we had Ontario's Greenbelt, which was very popular and very successful, protecting a lot of farmland, protecting a lot of naturally sensitive areas, but a lot of farmland was left out of that," Shapero told CBC News.
Shapero, who was also a member of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, says they spoke to academics and people in the agricultural community to develop their motion for the Markham foodbelt.
"We proposed Canada's first foodbelt, that we actually have a protected area for growing food and ensuring that we have food for the future going forward," she said.
After intensive public consultation on the idea, their motion was defeated 7-6.
"It was quite devastating," Burke said, noting the farmland they wanted to save has been developed and used for housing and other buildings in the 15 years since then.
Fast forward 15 years and Shapero and Burke say they were delighted to hear Schreiner and Brady bringing up the idea again.
"We need more politicians like them. They have such foresight and I was really pleased to see they're doing it," Burke said.
"Maybe we were ahead of our time in 2009 in Markham when we called for this and we called for Canada's first foodbelt to be created," Shapero added.
"But today, looking at it from the lens of 2025, food security is critical for our economy and the agricultural sector is critical for our economy."
Schreiner says the foodbelt is needed because Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland a day, a figure the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has also reported using data from the May 2022 census of agriculture completed by Statistics Canada.
"At a time when [U.S. President Donald] Trump is attacking our sovereignty and our economy with these ridiculous trade threats, now more than ever we need to protect the farmland that feeds us," Schreiner said in an interview on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris.
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