The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 62As the first female Minister of
Agriculture, Quebec’s Marie-
Claude Bibeau recognizes she
has a role to play in creating gender
equality in Canada’s agricultural
community.
“I never had the feeling I had to
fight harder,” said Bibeau. “Now in
this position, I realize that gender
equality is not something you can
take for granted,” she added as she
took a break at Tim Horton’s in
Wingham, where she met with The
Rural Voice and The Citizen
newspaper on July 24 to share her
experiences touring Huron and Bruce
Counties.
“We know women are very
involved in agriculture. Agriculture
depends on family farms and women
have been working on them forever.
But I do acknowledge that they are
not around the leadership table,” said
Bibeau.
It’s not just a matter of quality.
It’s about sustainable economics.
“No country and no sector of activity
can afford to leave half their
population behind,” she said.
As she familiarizes herself with
the issues facing Canadian farmers,
she intends to bring young people
and women around the table to “get
their viewpoints of agriculture that
align with their aspirations.”
Also, she was keen to highlight
the Government of Canada’s Women
Entrepreneurship Strategy, a $2
billion investment that seeks to
double the number of women-owned
and women-led businesses by 2025.
Within that strategy, there is support
from Farm Credit Canada which is
designating $500 million over three
years for the Women Entrepreneur
Loan. This loan waives certain fees
and encourages women to reinvest
these savings into personal and
professional development opport-
unities which suit their individual
and business needs.
Bibeau was excited to share
program details at the Federal-
Provincial-Territorial (FPT)
roundtable meeting of agriculture
ministers in Quebec in July. Bibeau
said she invited a panel of four young
farmers (two male, two female) to
discuss their issues.
“They brought subjects we did not
have on our agenda,” she said. These
subjects included the digital
transition on farms, mental health of
producers and employees, the role of
women on the family farm and farm
transitions from one generation to the
next.
“It was really a plus to have this
panel of young farmers speak to us,”
she said.
Here, in Huron and Bruce
Counties, Bibeau was touring local
farms and processors.
Earlier in the day, she made a
funding announcement at Gay Lea in
Teeswater. The company is getting a
$6.9 million grant through the Dairy
Processing Investment Fund and a
$10 million loan through FedDev
Ontario. This will allow Gay Lea
Foods to advance its scientific and
technical capability to produce new,
high-value milk products,
particularly for the health food and
nutraceutical markets.
One of the farms she visited was
Eby Farms, a feedlot near Kincardine
that markets about 1,500 cattle a
year.
“We addressed a lot of
issues,”said Bibeau listing trade and
transportation as top issues.
China’s ban on beef and pork
exports from Canada has been a
cause for concern but Bibeau says
there could be an end in sight.
“We have regular conversations
with the Chinese government, which
is encouraging,” she said. “We know
they need our meat because they
have a large population to feed and
they are dealing with African Swine
Fever which affects their ability to
produce.” Bibeau said its hard to put
a date on when that market will
reopen, but because of the regular
conversations between China and
Canada, she is “hopeful.”
The canola issue, however, will
take longer. China has blocked the
trade of canola seed from Canada and
Bibeau says the Chinese aren’t nearly
as willing to discuss this issue as the
58 The Rural Voice
Bibeau visits beef farm in Bruce County
Marie-Claude Bibeau (centre), the first female Minister of Agriculture, was
in Huron and Bruce Counties on July 24 where she toured Eby Farms near
Kincardine and spoke with Steve Eby and fellow farmers about issues
facing the beef industry.
By Lisa B. Pot
News