B.C. businesses reliant on trade with India express worry as diplomatic divide deepens
CBC
Some B.C. business owners who sell their products to India say they are worried about the future of their livelihoods as diplomatic relations break down between Canada and the Indian government.
Sunny Brar, a farmer in Langley, B.C., said he is trying to determine a way forward with his 40-acre blueberry farm.
"It's very scary," said Brar.
Local sales were slumping so for the first time earlier this year, Brar says he successfully sold about 10 per cent of his fresh blueberry yield to India.
It's an avenue he'd like to continue pursuing.
But with tensions rising between Canada and India ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of a Surrey Sikh activist, he's worried it could affect next year's sales.
"Is our investment ... is it dead in the water or is it going to be something that can, you know, grow further?" he says, adding he needs to start pruning his shrubs accordingly if he continues with plans to sell and ship more fresh blueberries.
Brar's exporting endeavour took years of groundwork.
He collaborated with the owners of supply chain management company and exporter, Fruitsy, who says much of their business relies entirely on Indian demand of Canadian fruit.
"India has other options. So as a business out of Canada we are worried ... they would say, 'It's fine, we'll find some other regions,'" says co-founder Vivek Dhume. "But for us, this is our livelihood."
Dhume says it's left him worried and confused what to tell the farmers he works with about the upcoming year.
India is B.C.'s fifth largest trade partner, according to statistics from the B.C. government.
In 2022, Canada imported and exported a record number of goods and services between the two countries worth nearly $20 billion.
Analysts like Carlo Dade of the Canada West Foundation say the political showdown couldn't have come "at a worse time" as trade negotiations between the two countries under the Indo-Pacific strategy were getting underway.
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