Honourable senators, I rise today in recognition of World Soil Day which took place last week on December 5. Some of you may have noticed I have been talking a lot about the importance of soil over the last while. I’d like to warn you that’s not going to stop any time soon.

I believe that soil degradation has the potential to be one of the major issues of our lifetime, and addressing soil issues will have to play a key role in the fight against climate change. The theme of the 2019 World Soil Day was “stop soil erosion and save our future.” That slogan pretty well sums it up. Soil plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and feeding the world. The food that many of us take for granted in our daily lives would not be possible without soil. Healthy soil leads to healthy crops, which leads to healthy livestock and healthy people. With the decrease in healthy usable soil, food availability could be and will be at risk around the world. Soil is an important natural resource, but it is a finite resource.

We have not always treated our soils with care, partly because we have not always understood and known the severity of the situation and partly because it’s very hard to change the way we do things when we don’t see immediate benefits.

That said, at the same time we have seen consequences in recent years of soil degradation and climate change with more frequent and extreme weather events here and around the world. We are experiencing more major floods, hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires and tornadoes. As soil is degraded, its carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and these severe weather events I speak of.

All that said, it’s not too late to make changes. Government and organizations need to lead the way in soil management by engaging in the protection and improvement of soil health.

I encourage all of us to get our hands dirty and make it happen while we still have time to do something about it. World Soil Day is an important reminder about the crucial role soil plays in our lives. While Ontario and other jurisdictions have been making some moves in the right direction, the federal government can and should be doing a lot more about soil health. As you may have heard, I’m hoping we will be able to carry out a study on the topic in the Senate at some point in the future. I look forward to the reconstitution of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry so we can get to work on this important issue and others facing all Canadians. Let’s stop taking this precious resource for granted and do what we can now to conserve it for the benefit of all of us and our planet.

It’s time to take action. Thank you. Merci.