Honourable senators, I rise tonight to speak to Inquiry No. 16 initiated by Senator Black regarding the ongoing concerns with respect to agricultural, wetland and forest land reallotments in Canada, as well as potential food, economic, and social insecurities as a result of reduced capacity for farming, pasture, forestry, and food production both domestically and internationally.

Today, I plan to speak about this issue of land use and food security as it relates to this proposed inquiry from the perspective of a senator who has just had her first anniversary of appointment to this chamber —

— and that of a pediatrician, a mother and grandmother concerned about climate change, health and food security.

In speaking about this, my goal is to encourage you, honourable colleagues, after debate to vote for this inquiry to move to committee stage for further investigation.

As a legislator, I’m becoming keenly aware of the divisions of rights and responsibilities and powers or authorities between provinces, territories, First Nations, Innu, Métis and the federal government. Some of you may wonder why a pediatrician was so keenly interested in food security when I came to the Senate.

As with all the insights that I have gained over my career, it came from listening deeply to my patients and their families and learning from their struggles. It came from connecting the dots between poor health and school performance, academic, behavioural and emotional problems that forced me to dig deeper and discover that many of these families were struggling or had struggled with providing enough nutritious and healthy food necessary for a healthy life.

I decided when I came to the Senate — or at least it seemed so at the time — to focus on food security. On reflection, however, all those encounters with my patients had charted a course for my life that would unfold in due course.

During the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry’s soil study, we heard from many witnesses about the need for a national strategy on soil health. So although land use, for the most part, falls squarely in provincial and territorial jurisdictions, and we’re all becoming keenly aware that a national strategy can foster the development of cohesive policies and support best practices and knowledge exchange across jurisdictions.

It is also very clear that across Canada, to quote Senator Duncan, “One size does not fit all,” and that is the beauty of Canada. This diversity across all spheres is what I say and feel is our superpower as a nation.

Agricultural land is a limited resource in Canada. Less than 7% of the country’s land mass is suitable for agriculture. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that Canada’s agricultural land totalled 68.1 million hectares in 2018, placing the country in the thirteenth position in global rankings. All of this is to say that Canada plays a vital role in global food production and food security.

Across Canada, there are 189,874 farms. Average farm size almost doubled over the last 50 years due to consolidation and technological advances. Although farm market receipts, which represent farmers’ revenues from the sale of agricultural commodities, in 2022 reached a record high, with 5.6% average annual growth between 2012 and 2022 — and this is important — the largest 10% of farms generated more than two thirds of all revenues. This needs to be underscored.

Furthermore, a recent Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report from June 2023 shows that half of all farms are reported to be losing money or just barely making it. These and other factors make it a national imperative to further understand Canadian agriculture and forest land reallotments.

Following Canada’s ratification of the Paris Agreement in October 2016, which I agree with and wholeheartedly support, a comprehensive plan known as the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change was adopted to reduce emissions across all sectors in Canada, including agriculture. The framework identified four agriculture-related actions: enhancing carbon storage in forests and agriculture lands; supporting the increase of wood for construction; generating fuel from bioenergy and bioproducts; and advancing innovation, including clean technologies, to reduce emissions from agriculture. This underscores why this inquiry into land use reallotments is vitally important.

According to a recent review, “Beyond GDP: Lessons for Redefining Progress in Canadian Food System Policy” by Naomi Robert and Kent Mullinix, agricultural intensification for the purpose of meeting increasing export demands has degraded Canadian prairie ecosystems:

This includes a near elimination of tall grass prairie ecosystems . . . the draining of approximately 70% of historic wetlands . . . and the loss of biodiversity dependent on these ecosystems. . . .

Now let’s move on to Ontario. Less than 5% of Ontario’s land is suitable for growing food or raising livestock, with the best of it often located next to large cities.

According to Census of Agriculture data, Ontario is losing more than 319 acres of arable land each day, which translates to a nearly 1% loss of Ontario’s farm acreage every year. Rigid zoning regulations and car-centric cities are a catalyst for urban centres sprawling into fertile agricultural land. Even as populations grow, urban areas are becoming less dense. This emphasizes the importance of protected agricultural land, like Ontario’s Greenbelt. Greenbelt farms, while covering just 7% of the province’s farmland, grow 42% of its fruits and 7% of its vegetables acres, earning 47% more per acre than the rest of Ontario.

We heard from many witnesses throughout our study on soil health, and some themes are clear. The proper planning of how to utilize our land is one of the most beneficial steps we can take to ensuring healthier soils. Farmers described their struggles in acquiring their own land to cultivate. Cheyenne Sundance from Sundance Commons put forward one land use policy that may be a useful tool to help foster proper land management and soil health. This is the formation of land trusts. Her organization was inspired by other models that offer farmers equity for land-based improvements.

In her submission to the committee, she reported:

A new type of farm is needed — one where supports . . . are married with long-term equitable land access. . . .

In her view, this is paramount to make small-scale agriculture more accessible to young people, many of whom do not have inherited land or parental guidance on the farm business.

Another young farmer, Dean Orr, wrote to the York Regional Council on urban sprawl. He wrote about his grave concern for the current land use and ad hoc plan to promote food security:

My career is one that allows me to have front-line perspective on land-use planning, as well as city and urban planning. . . . Our family farm is in King City where we grow mostly corn, soybeans wheat, organic black and kidney beans for grain and maple syrup. All of our land is rented. As you can imagine, that leaves us extremely vulnerable and acutely aware as to the decisions of land use planning as well as decisions made by those that own the land, which is most often developers and speculators. . . .

He ends with this plea: “We need to preserve our farmland for the food security of our current and future population.” I say that the pandemic magnified all of these issues and should not be lost on us.

A recent CBC report noted that 1 in 10 people in Toronto use food banks, and 1 in 5 children in Ontario experience some form of food insecurity, such as worrying about running out of food. Black and Indigenous populations, as you know, experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity.

One of the recommendations of Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Plan 2021, Recommendation #2, Access to Growing Space, supports reimagining:

. . . public land as an opportunity to advance an inclusive reparative economy approach to build increased community resilience, land-based learning initiatives and healing through identifying, returning and repurposing land —

— to promote Black environmental stewardship and urban agriculture initiatives.

Equitable land, access to land and GBA Plus analysis of our agriculture land reallotment policies and processes need to be examined. The Canadian Land Inventory uses data from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. There is urgent need to have up-to-date data using the latest technologies and machine learning and to make this data available to diverse groups of Canadians in an equitable and accessible manner.

Honourable colleagues, Canadian agricultural, wetland and forestland reallotments, as well as potential food, economic and social insecurities as a result of reduced capacity for farming, pasture, forestry and food production, both domestically and internationally, are vitally important to Canada. We need to know more about the best practices in other countries, especially those that may be applicable to Canada in all of its diversity. We should also look to learn from Indigenous scientists, elders and keepers of knowledge. Sustainability and the stewardship of mother earth are at the core of Indigenous farming, land use practices and cultural beliefs.

It is my hope that this inquiry will help engage Canadians of all ages and raise awareness about the important issue of land use, which will deepen our understanding of its impacts on food security, climate change, health and economic stability. This may be the most important issue of our time.

Honourable senators, I urge you after debate to move this inquiry to the committee stage for further investigation, as we hold this land in trust for the next generations, our children and grandchildren. They are depending on us. Thank you.