After oil, Agriculture Could Be next target: Wall
Former premier warns activists may try to negatively brand agriculture as well
Former premier Brad Wall says the country must be prepared in case the same groups that branded all Canadian oil as “dirty oil” make modern agriculture their next target.
“There’s a cautionary tale for Canadian agriculture to be learned from what happened to the branding of our energy in this country,” said Wall during a panel discussion at Agribition on Tuesday morning.
He attributed the success of the “dirty oil” branding to well-funded NGO’S that came to Canada and effectively engaged with environmental allies.
“Those same groups by the way, a lot of them … don’t like modern agriculture either,” said Wall.
He referred to the Leap Manifesto, which was published in September 2015, during the federal election campaign.
The manifesto calls for a radical restructuring of the economy as Canada moves toward ending the use of fossil fuels.
“The same Leap Manifesto that … calls for an end to oil and gas and an end to mining, calls for an end to modern agriculture,” said Wall.
In the words of the manifesto, moving to a more localized and “ecologically-based” agriculture system would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, capture carbon in the soil and absorb “sudden shocks in the global supply.”
“So is that the next target?” mused Wall. “I don’t know if it is or it isn’t, but we ought to be ready. We ought to learn from what happened to … the energy sector.”
When it comes to the “dirty oil” narrative, Wall said governments, including his own, have been “flatfooted” when it comes to defending the energy sector.
“The branding over the decades has been terrible,” said former New Brunswick premier Frank Mckenna, who joined Wall on the panel discussion titled Food, Fuel and Free Trade.
“I’d like to see us rebranding the energy sector dramatically,” he said.
Mckenna said there has been a “lack of appropriate recognition of the extraordinary amount of work that’s going into environmental technologies,” especially in Alberta.
“Thousands of scientists are working there, and the end result of that is that there’s less water depletion, the amount of reclamation that’s taking place is absolutely stunning — just everything in the process is being improved,” he said.
He said there isn’t enough appreciation for the role that Canadian oil plays in creating national wealth, and was adamant the country has a duty to take advantage of such an abundance of natural resources, but with an environmental conscience.
“Our obligation as stewards of the land is to use every technology available across the planet to produce that resource at the lowest cost and with the best environmental standards,” he said.
Wall said we must be ready to put resources and effort into countering “what is already out there” and “what’s probably coming from groups that want to have a run at modern agriculture.”
The 45-minute panel discussion also saw Wall and Mckenna address issues like getting oil to tidewater, pipelines, free trade and more, followed by a STARS charity auction.
I’d like to see us rebranding the energy sector dramatically.
FRANK MCKENNA, ex-new Brunswick premier, during the Agribition panel titled Food, Fuel and Free Trade
The same Leap Manifesto that … calls for an end to oil and gas and an end to mining, calls for an end to modern agriculture.