By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
How to protect Canadian agriculture from Donald Trump’s tariffs dominated the talk at the Kent Federation of Agriculture’s all candidates meeting April 17.
Around 150 people attended the event at the Retrosuites Derby Room to hear from five candidates vying to become Chatham-Kent–Leamington’s next Member of Provincial Parliament. And while the submitted questions ranged from affordability to infrastructure to supply chain management, the discussion kept circling back to Trump.
Candidates speaking at the one-hour session included incumbent Conservative MP Dave Epp; Seamus Fleming for the NDP; People’s Party of Canada candidate Trevor Lee; Liberal candidate Keith Pickard and Green Party representative James Plunkett.
The staid older crowd was mostly quiet, with the loudest applause coming in response to comments from Pickard that Mark Carney is the man to lead Canada through the turbulent Trump years.
The mostly civil meeting that saw candidates answer seven prepared questions took a slight turn at the end as Epp and Pickard took shots at each other’s parties.
“This election by far is the most important election of our lifetime, ” Pickard told the crowd. “As I said in the beginning our sovereignty is at stake. We need a strong government. And Mark Carney is the person to negotiate a trade deal to support Canada. Without a doubt Poilievre will not be able to garner the respect that Carney will get with Trump. You will not get the same trade deal.”
Pickard never missed an opportunity throughout the meeting to point out that dollars flow to the candidate that has a sitting member of the governing party in power.
“It’s essential that we tell the story of Chatham-Kent–Leamington and bring those funds back,” Pickard said.
Citing a decade of “Liberal ineptness,” Epp countered that “common sense says you don’t put the arsonist back in charge of the fire that they lit.”
Using Pickard’s words that dollars flow to the governing party representative, Epp called the practice “pork barrelling” consistent with Liberal “corruption.
“Make no mistake, I’ll advocate for good business, sound policy for this region and for any region,” Epp said, pointing out the Liberals “never talk about” their fiscal record or their record in agriculture.
“Why? Canadians need hope and to be put first for a change,” he added.
Lee echoed Epp’s comments.
“I agree with Dave, we need hope,” he said. “It’s not good here in Canada. Families are split, people are struggling to put food on the table. People can’t find or buy homes. We need to get Canada back to a position where we’re strong internationally and nationally. And fight for everybody and our neighbours… the People’s Party will do that. ”
With the exception of Lee, who said retaliatory tariffs would just make things more expensive, the candidates agreed that strong measures are needed to counter the threat posed by U.S. economic policy.
Epp said the Conservatives would look at removing inter-provincial trade barriers, institute a robust plan to train 350,000 apprentices, maintain Canada’s agri-business supply chains and facilitate an east-west energy corridor.
“We need to improve our position and our ability to trade and build on our strengths with other countries so we can face Trump’s tariffs,” Epp explained.
However, Pickard said the Liberals will remove all inter-provincial trade barriers by July 1 and focus on expanding agri-business across the board.
All of the candidates laid out plans for protecting agriculture, with Fleming saying the NDP will ban foreign speculation on farms and increase spending and long-term loans to the agri-business sector.
Fleming said the Chatham-Kent area has been “let down” by government, particularly in the area of rural health care.
“This election is not just about tariffs, it’s about making way for the next generation of farmers,” he said, noting the federal government has supported big grocery corporations such as Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Lee said the farming sector needs to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers, return to a smaller, more sustainable farming model and get rid of supply chain management.
Plunkett said Canada needs to hold back the resources the United States needs until Trump drops the tariffs, which will help farmers.
He said the Green Party will also focus on clean energy and affordability for all, reducing the use of chemicals to protect citizens and farmland.
