Shortly before 10 a.m., to the sound of horns and the roar of engines, a good hundred tractors took to the road from Saint-Clet, in western Montérégie. On a country road where muddy fields wait either to be plowed to grow vegetables, or to be excavated to grow new housing buildings, they paraded noisily for around twenty kilometers towards Saint-Lazare, then Vaudreuil-Dorion, to finally land in the parking lot of a shopping center where other demonstrators armed with signs were waiting for them.
What there is to know
Last December, agricultural producers requested increased financial support from Quebec.
Since the beginning of March, numerous demonstrations have been held in several agricultural regions. Others are planned for Thursday and Friday.
At the end of March, Prime Minister François Legault declared that there is “a crisis in agriculture currently”, while admitting that the standards imposed on Quebec producers are stricter than elsewhere.
On stage, a succession of spokespersons from local sections of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) addressed the crowd. “Twenty years ago, these lands were fields. Now it’s asphalt,” said Philippe Lauzon, a young up-and-coming agricultural producer. “Take five seconds to imagine your land becoming a parking lot. »
“Is this what we want?” “, shouted the host, addressing the approximately 200 agricultural producers in front of him. “Noooo!” », replied the crowd.
This was the second demonstration by Montérégie agricultural producers to be held since the beginning of the month. Others have already been announced Thursday, in Laval, and Friday, in Saint-Hyacinthe.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The president of the UPA, Martin Caron
“I have never seen such a high level of discontent in the agricultural world,” said the president of the UPA, Martin Caron, present on site.
At the root of this anger, producers are targeting two main sources of frustration.
First, the “bureaucratic burden” imposed on them, the “red tape” which forces them, they say, to spend too much time filling out forms, whether to comply with a financing program, a new certification or visa application for foreign workers.
Then, the significant economic difficulties they face: high interest rates, insufficient financial aid to compensate for harvest losses, rising costs of inputs, machinery, labor, etc. which eat into their income, to the point of putting certain farms in danger.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Demonstration of agricultural producers in Montérégie
Eco-fees in the crosshairs
The example of “eco-fees” – applied to fuel and agricultural equipment – is often cited as a major irritant. “Just the eco-fees for diesel and propane cost agricultural producers 80 million last year,” says Martin Caron, of the UPA Federation of Montérégie. For agricultural plastics, says Mr. Caron, producers had to pay $5.5 million. “We are asked to be competitive with producers from other provinces or the United States, but they do not have these costs to assume. It’s unfair competition. »
Since 2015, adds Mr. Caron, agricultural producers have paid $415 million in eco-fees, without this money returning to them to help green their practices. “We are asking either for an abolition of eco-fees, or for the money to be re-injected into the agricultural world to deal with climate change and the ecological transition. We want to recover this money, we want to help producers face these issues. »
“With the pandemic, there was incredible interest in organic, local food. And there, it seems that Quebecers have returned to their daily routine,” laments Frédéric Thériault, of the Tourne-Sol cooperative farm, in Les Cèdres. The number of customers for its organic baskets and seeds is decreasing.
We were there when there was a pandemic, and everyone was afraid of running out of food. I think it would be time for the population to be there for agricultural producers.
Frédéric Thériault, from the Tourne-Sol cooperative farm, in Les Cèdres
“From year to year, in our region, we see more tornadoes, big storms, hail, floods… We see climate change head on,” summarizes Hélène Sabourin, from the Les Petites Écores farm, in Pointe-Fortune. “Insurance is poorly suited for small producers like us. In fact, we don’t have insurance. »
Politicians, but not elected officials
Unlike the demonstration held a week earlier in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, no government representative or MP was on hand to address the producers. This did not prevent other politicians from coming to support the demonstrators.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The prospective candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec Denis Coderre was present on the scene.
Less than 1% of the last provincial budget was devoted to agriculture, producers denounced in unison. “It doesn’t make any sense,” agreed the candidate for leadership of the PLQ Denis Coderre, present on the scene. So, how much should be allocated to the sector? “It has to be enough. We talk about food sovereignty and we respond with a referendum on immigration…”
For his part, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, also on site, did not come forward in wanting to grant a greater proportion of the provincial budget to agriculture. “Before we start helping agriculture, we should stop harming it,” he says. “We can’t cut farmers’ throats to look good environmentally. They must compete on equal terms with competition from elsewhere. »