SARM leaves Ottawa with a few positives

The President of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is back following a trip to Ottawa meeting with MP’s and cabinet ministers about a wide range of issues.

Bill Huber says one of the issues was about China’s tariffs on Canadian canola. A news release from SARM said since the imposition of the Chinese tariffs, “farmers are contending with full storage bins, limited marketing options, and incomes that cannot meet financial obligations such as mortgages, crop input costs, and operating loans—with no clear resolution in sight.”

Huber claims not one shipment of the new canola crop has been transported to China due to the tariffs. While it’s been shipped to other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, Huber said they don’t compare to Canada’s second-largest market of the commodity.

But Huber is encouraged by the Federal Agriculture Minister Heath McDonald going to China this week to engage with government officials, local business leaders and stakeholders on address current challenges and promote Canadian agricultural products, like canola.

During a meeting with McDonald and Kody Blois, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Huber said Blois told them that “we can’t expect these tariffs to just disappear. We can’t expect Canada to sign off on these tariffs because of fear of retaliation from the American President and every day is a new day in the tariff war with the U.S., and we’ve got to be careful how that is dealt with.”

Huber said they supported Blois’ thoughts on the matter.

A follow-up on strychnine

Another topic of discussion was SARM’s call to reinstate the use of strychnine to control the rising population of Richardson Ground Squirrels. The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is another group that wants the same thing.

Strychnine is a pesticide that was banned by Health Canada in 2024.

But Huber claims that might change in the near future.

“We got a commitment from the Federal Agriculture Minister, relayed to us from [Conservative] Member of Parliament [for Souris-Moose Mountain] Stephen Bonk. He texted me on Friday morning saying that the Federal Minister of Agriculture had said that they will go ahead with legislation to reintroduce the use of Strychnine on an emergency basis, providing the provincial government, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the municipalities participate in that program. So that was very welcome news. It’s in the early stages of planning.”

SaskAgToday has reached out to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for confirmation.

Commitment on Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project

SARM also followed up on the federal government’s possible commitment to invest in the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project.

The provincial government had said its moving forward with construction on the $1.15 billion dollar project either late this year or late next year.

According to a website dedicated to the project, the province “will be engaging with agricultural and environmental stakeholders and groups, municipal and community organizations, First Nation and Métis organizations and communities, the federal government, key research organizations, and the public” to gather feedback before work begins.

Huber says they’ve wanted an answer from Ottawa for several years now, noting previous responses from them were “go to the Canada Infrastructure Bank and borrow it.”

But he said the response from federal officials this time “seemed more attentive and listening”.

“We’re just trying to hold their feet to the fire, for lack of a better word, and how important the irrigation project is to Saskatchewan for food, sustainable food security in this world we’re living in today. And that doesn’t just contribute to hay and grain and oilseeds. It contributes to a lot of vegetables and vegetable farms and processing that’s already being started and built in towns like Outlook.”

Critics of the project argue the costs associated with it far outweigh the benefit.

Bail reform, policing, and gun registration were other issues talked about between SARM and government officials, Huber said.

He described the meetings overall as good.

SARM leaves Ottawa with a few positives

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