SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Honourable Robert Black

Honourable senators, when he was just 12 or maybe 21 — I definitely wasn’t — a young Rob Black heard me give a speech about my rural roots and the love of the land at our beloved University of Guelph. So when Rob arrived at the Senate, we became instant friends. Little did I know, I was in the company of a man who was about to become an internationally renowned “dirt guy.” Some even called him “The Sodfather.” Of course, this is the Senate, so we will tone it up a bit and, henceforth, refer to Senator Black as the prestigious “Dr. Soil.”

Kidding aside, Senator Black has rightly earned international recognition and respect for — excuse the pun — the groundbreaking study he led on soil health. He tilled the facts and fallacies, planted the information needed and harvested a work that has changed hearts and minds. He nurtured that work with passion and persistence, and he truly understood that from the ground springs life.

As Ghandi said, “To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”

For this work and for a lifelong commitment to, quite literally, saving our land, Dr. Soil has received many well-deserved awards and kudos: an honorary designation as a professional agrologist by the Ontario Institute of Agrologists just last year, along with a Distinguished Service Medal from the International Union of Soil Sciences — the highest award presented to world leaders who translate soil science into action. There was also the CropLife Canada Grassroots Award for individuals who mobilize stakeholders to advance plant science. Just yesterday, another recognition: for being an individual who has left an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape and beyond, Senator Rob Black has been inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.

I have a few more words.

Rob, once again you have earned your honour, and, in doing so, you have once again renewed the reputation of the Senate as the place that seeks wise and considered solutions to the world’s conundrums and challenges.

There is an old farmer’s proverb: “The best fertilizer is the farmer’s shadow.”

Rob, may your shadow cast far and wide to protect the land that feeds the world and to protect all those whose stewardship makes the largest mega project in the world possible each and every single year.

Congratulations, amazing colleague.