Celebrating smallness

FARMING INDUSTRY IS CUTTING EDGE AND IT'S TIME POLITICIANS RECOGNIZED THAT

Acommon theme of this column is the lack of ambition and the role of complacency in Canadian politics and our broader society. We are too often apprehensive, self-conscious and inclined to cast our sights on the local and familiar rather than the global and unknown. Canadians can fall victim to a collective case of stereotypical Canadianism.

This tendency was on display with the recognition of Canadian Agriculture Day last week. Various political leaders issued statements to mark the day and highlight the role of agriculture in Canadian society. Their messages were non-controversial in and of themselves — they were mainly political talking points about “purchasing homegrown, local products” or “keep our shelves stocked.”

But these superficial statements, including from Conservative leader Erin O'Toole and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were telling: the smallness of their messages unintentionally yet powerfully conveys the broader problem of complacency in modern Canadian life.

These romanticized characterizations of Canadian agriculture — what almost seemed like pastoral descriptions of a loose network of local farmers' markets — may be good retail politics but they belie the country's dynamic, cutting-edge and globally-leading industry.

Agriculture and agri-food is more than a $100-billion industry in Canada. It's roughly seven per cent of the national economy and more than 12 per cent of Canadian employment. It's been growing faster than the economy as a whole for more than a decade and is projected to add significantly to the country's economic output in the coming years due to growing global demand.

This trajectory hasn't changed much due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Agricultural commodity prices (such as barley, canola and soybeans) have actually surpassed their previous year's levels. A recent report by TD Economics argued that the agriculture sector has “bucked the trend seen elsewhere in the economy.”

A major factor in the sector's growth is technology and innovation. Canada's agricultural industry is world-leading with respect to new inventions and their commercial adoption.

The myriad of Canadian agricultural innovations (including new genetically-engineered seeds and more productive farming processes) is too long to list here but the key point is that our farms are increasingly incorporating science and technology (including advanced sensors, big data and robotics) to transform their businesses. Traditional conceptions of farming have been replaced by highly-sophisticated operations that are more technology driven than most parts of Canada's economy or agriculture sectors elsewhere in the world.

The upshot: Canada has consistently ranked as a top five global exporter of agricultural products (including first in major commodities such as wheat, canola and lentils) and the sector was recently identified by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by the Trudeau government as one of the country's few comparative advantages.

Yet none of this was reflected in the statements issued by our political leaders. Instead they de-emphasized the real story of technology, innovation and global leadership for a much smaller story of small-scale, local food production that “tastes even better” than globally-sourced products.

There's reason to blame everyone for this myopia. Politicians are too inclined to think of agriculture through an outdated and parochial lens that causes them to overlook the country's global potential. The “farmers feed cities” mantra is fair enough as a political slogan, but it risks being counterproductive if it's an obstacle to deeper and more nuanced discussions about how to take the sector to the next level.

The industry is too conservative about how it thinks about itself and communicates to policy-makers and the Canadian public. Its demand for a one-off exemption from the federal carbon tax in part reflects a collective lack of self-awareness of the industry's size and power in the economy. Canadian agriculture doesn't require special dispensation as if it's some sort of struggling industry. It's a global powerhouse and it should act like one.

Canadians, themselves, need to get over their own quaint notions of farming and food production. Much of this small-minded messaging from politicians and the industry reflects what the public wants to hear. The result is that we get a steady stream of television commercials lionizing the small, local farm instead of ones about how Canadian farms are driving growth and shaping global markets.

This kind of parochialism is part of a broader problem in Canada. We don't elevate winners. We celebrate smallness. We aren't ruthless about achieving global advantage. We're too satisfied with being mid-sized fishes in a small pond. Our small conception of ourselves is a major impediment to competing and winning in the global economy.

It will need to change in the post-pandemic world. Countries such as the United States and United Kingdom are already signalling that they will pursue policies of doubling down on their industrial strengths. In a world of greater economic nationalism, we're going to need a healthy dose of un-Canadianness. There will be no room for apprehension or complacency.

The good news is that we start with some pre-existing advantages. Our dynamic and innovative agriculture industry is a major one. That's worth celebrating on Canadian Agriculture Day.

MORE THAN A $100-BILLION INDUSTRY IN CANADA.

MIKE HENSEN / POSTMEDIA NEWS FILES Canadian agriculture and agri-food has been growing faster than the economy as a whole and is projected to add to the country's output due to growing global demand.