I came to Canada in 2004 and was grateful to be accepted as a permanent resident in what I believed was a democratic country that respected the rule of law. I became a citizen as soon as I qualified by the number of years spent in the country. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Never did I think that I would experience farmland expropriation again.
Although I believed Canada was a respectable country with a reasonable system of government, I had some reservations.
I remembered too well that Pierre Trudeau during his tenure as Prime Minister, had funnelled millions in “aid” to terrorist leaders Mugabe and Nkomo and allowed them to establish an office and raise funds in Canada. “Aid” and funds that were used to finance the murder of thousands of black and white Rhodesians, including my father in 1979. The loyalty shown by those Rhodesian and South African allies in both world wars was conveniently ignored in the grovelling rush by the Commonwealth to appease despots and dictators in newly independent African states.
My reservations grew during the move to the left by successive Canadian Federal and Provincial governments – both Liberal and Conservative.
Following the election of the Liberal government of Trudeau Junior, the move to the left became a slide into politically correct wokeness, and economic and social insanity.
Then with the great coronavirus fraud, it became a freefall – appeasement of groups, ideologies, causes and movements with no or highly suspect pseudo-scientific justification on one hand. Authoritarian decrees, fascist powers given to police and brutal oppression of law-abiding citizens on the other.
Just like the Zimbabwe I escaped from. My story is here.
Attacks on Farming
The dictates of the WEF, WHO and various other non-elected NGOs, have strongarmed European governments to put pressure on farmers to reduce fertilizer, crop chemical and diesel consumption, cull their herds and convert their arable lands to bunny parks. The Canadian government has started doing the same. The weapon of choice has been “The Carbon Tax” a totally unnecessary and misnamed extra tax. A tax for the sole purpose of buying votes from the urban voters disconnected from farming and rural life for many generations. Farmland expropriation is being used as a weapon against farmers.
European farmers fought back, massive protests in countries from Belgium to the United Kingdom paralysed freeways, shut down ports and city centres. The EU parliament blinked first and at the end of March shelved its plans to decimate European farming.
Farmers in Canada are not asleep, many have been out with trucks and tractors protesting the ridiculous increase in the carbon tax on April the first. With no sense of shame members of parliament and the Prime Minister accepted a healthy pay increase on the same day.
Farmland in Canada.
Although Canada has the second largest land area of any country, the area of land suitable for agriculture is limited. Most of that land is within 300 km of the southern border. Even on our prime croplands, the short growing season makes crop production more difficult than in sub-tropical and tropical regions of the planet.
It makes no sense to use farmland expropriation tactics to cover this scarce land with houses, factories and offices.
There is plenty of land in the Northern parts of the provinces for Industrial and residential development. Land that is unsuitable for agriculture. With remote work becoming acceptable and desirable for many office workers, it makes sense to put factories and people in places where farming is not possible.
Ontario
Only 5% of land in Ontario is suitable for crop production. (1 & 2) Each day, 319 acres of farmland are being lost to industrial, commercial and residential development or infrastructure to service them. In the last 35 years, 2.8 million acres, 18% of total farmland has been lost.
Ontario’s remaining farmland can feed 15.3 million people. The population in 2023 was 15.9 million. (3) Uncontrolled immigration and the destruction of farms mean the province can no longer feed its population.
There have been three disturbing events affecting farmland in Ontario recently.
The Mayor of Woodstock, using his recently acquired “Strong Mayor” powers and in conjunction with a local developer has approached several farm owners in a rural township adjacent to the city boundary. The approach is for the farmers to sell their land for development. Some of the farmers would be happy to sell, others not. The township in which the farms are situated is reluctant to allow the farms to be rezoned.
Woodstock has acquired several thousand acres of farmland for development over the last 20 years, much of this land is still not developed, some but not all, is rented out to local farmers each year for crop production. Short-term rental of arable land is not a good prospect for sustainable production or investment in agriculture..
Secondly, a proposal to construct a wind turbine “farm” which was not well publicised, was shelved after local farmers and non-farming residents voiced their objections at a well-attended meeting.
Farmland Expropriation in Wilmot Township
Thirdly, in an underhand manner reminiscent of what happened to me and 5000 other farmers in Zimbabwe, farmers in WIlmot township were approached by an agent for the region. The approach was with an offer for the farms and the threat that if the farmers did not accept it, the farms would be expropriated and minimum compensation paid. Requests for information from the township and regional councils were stonewalled. The only comment from Waterloo Region was an arrogant statement by Chair Karen Redman that the region was assembling “shovel-ready” land for industrial development. This report in the Waterloo Region Record. More information is in this CBC report.
The Zimbabwe government took our farms for political purposes, not commercial. In the process, the Agricultural sector, the largest earner of foreign currency and the largest employer in the country was destroyed and the economy was wrecked. It has still not recovered after 24 years.
The Waterloo Region seems more interested in increasing its tax base promoting “green” industrial projects and providing jobs for new immigrants than supporting the farmers who feed the nation.
references