Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignored cries of anger and desperation from farmers and provincial officials last weekend by pressing ahead with a climate change agenda that will dramatically reduce Canada’s use of fertilizer — the same ruinous strategy that drove Dutch farmers into revolt and destroyed the agriculture of Sri Lanka.
The Toronto Sun reported on a dismaying Friday meeting of federal and provincial ministers, in which the latter could not convince the Trudeau administration to show any “flexibility” in its emissions targets, not even with a global food crisis on the horizon:
Several provincial governments, and organizations representing farmers have asked for emissions reductions from fertilizer to be measured via intensity – how much food is produced compared to the amount of fertilizer used. The Trudeau government is demanding an absolute reduction in emissions, which farmers say will result in less food being produced at a time when the world can ill afford it.
“The world is looking for Canada to increase production and be a solution to global food shortages. The Federal government needs to display that they understand this,” Alberta minister Nate Horner said.
“We’re really concerned with this arbitrary goal,” Saskatchewan’s David Marit said.
Although Canadian farm organizations warn the Trudeau plan will significantly reduce crops, slash the income of farmers, and increase Canadian grocery prices, Trudeau officials essentially said farmers would get used to their reduced allocation of fertilizers and devise new methods of growing “sustainable food.”
The Toronto Sun noted Trudeau’s plan is similar to the one that touched off massive protests from farmers in the Netherlands. The Dutch, in turn, took a page from the “Freedom Convoy” protests against vaccine mandates in Canada, using their farm vehicles to block highways and city roads.
Canada’s Post Millennial (PM) saw the Dutch revolt as “a warning sign to those across the pond in Canada for what might come if Trudeau gets his way.”
PM cited reports that estimated Canadian farmers could lose $48 billion by 2030 if Trudeau’s plan is implemented, due to both lost income from reduced crop yields and the increased cost of using “green” fertilizer.
An even more disturbing example is Sri Lanka, whose corrupt and incompetent socialist government banned chemical fertilizers on environmentalist grounds last year, bankrupting farmers and leaving the once-bountiful island on the brink of starvation.
Much as Trudeau officials have done, former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapksa rhapsodized about the wonders of organic farming and sustainable agriculture – while rice yields plummeted and farm families went bankrupt. The green agriculture scheme was such a disaster that farmers thought it might have been a ploy to drive them off their land so Rajapaksa and his cronies could buy it for pennies on the dollar.
International media aligned with the Green movement prefer not to dwell on how Sri Lanka’s deranged fertilizer ban contributed to the complete collapse of its government and economy – but the Sri Lankan people most certainly remember, banging their empty pots and pans together during massive street demonstrations to protest food shortages. The protests became known as “kitchen laments” and “farming Fridays.”
The Toronto Sun editorialized on Monday that Trudeau should “cool down” his “climate zealotry” before his extremist climate change policies cause irreparable harm to Canadian life:
[Climate zealotry] explains why the feds are now bringing in a second carbon tax so soon after fighting the provinces in court over the first carbon tax.
It explains why they’re now charging ahead with wild abandon to introduce worrisome restrictions on Canadian farming, which industry experts say will cause farms to close and see the price of food only increase more.
That’s not all. Everywhere you look, the feds are bringing in climate-related laws and regulations. The feds are also fully aware of the harms these policies will bring about — the big one being increased costs to regular folks, with lower income Canadians most disproportionately harmed. Their own reports acknowledge these looming problems.
The Toronto Sun’s editors were amazed that Trudeau would forge ahead with a fertilizer crackdown after seeing what happened in the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. The paper’s political columnist, Brian Lilley, called it “mind-boggling.”
“Why listen to the wheat growers? Why listen to Fertilizer Canada, or all the other groups saying that this is the wrong time?” Lilley asked sarcastically.
“The Trudeau government has their green blinders on. They’re moving ahead with their goal of ‘net zero’ by 2050. They’re moving ahead with their idea that by 2030, we’re going to slash emissions, even if it means less food for farmers, less food for you, and higher prices for you,” he said.
“This is all driven by people committed so deeply to their Paris climate targets that it doesn’t matter what the impact is on you. This is the Trudeau government having their blinders on. This is the Trudeau government being pure greeniacs. They’ve already helped do what they can to destroy the oil and gas industry in this country. Next, they’re coming for agriculture,” Lilley warned.
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