All over the world, we see manifestations of this. We feel the anger rising, including in Quebec: the people who feed us are at the breaking point. As Prime Minister, you must make agricultural issues a national priority before the situation worsens.
Like many other essential services — housing, health services, education, etc. —, our agriculture is in crisis: the net income of Quebec farms has fallen by 50% in 2023 and it is expected that they will fall by 86% in 2024; Bankruptcies are up 23% between 2022 and 2023, with an explosion of psychological distress among farmers.
While food is at the top of the list of basic needs of a society and agriculture represents a key sector for any population, these problems still largely remain in the blind spot of your government. The specter of lack of supply experienced during the pandemic no longer seems to worry you and you continue the agricultural rezoning blithely. Your disinterest in agriculture is obvious. Yet another proof came in the last budget, when cries from the heart for emergency aid to the agricultural sector were ignored.
Mr. Legault, agriculture is not one problem among many others. This is a national issue of the utmost importance. This is about the future of our autonomy and food security. Ensuring that we have healthy, local food on the tables of all Quebecers should be your number one goal.
Clear and worrying signals
Everywhere on the planet, including here, we see the consequences of this neglect: sharply rising land prices, lack of succession and increasingly scarce labor, extreme climatic events which threaten harvests, galloping inflation inflating production costs, large grocery chains making record profits with disregard for the environment, farmers, etc. Farmers are right to be frustrated: those who put food on our plates have too much on their shoulders.
This is true in France, the Netherlands or Belgium. This is true in India. And this is increasingly true in Quebec. As organizations concerned with the future of our autonomy and our food security, we have felt this discontent growing for some time. He who sows the wind reaps the storm, they say…
The potential of a historical legacy
For several months, the agricultural world and its proud workers have also communicated their discontent to your Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne, who, despite all the good will that we know of him, does not seem to have the freedom to provide the support they sorely lack.
We hear a lot about the power you have given to some of your ministers, Mr. Legault. It is time to give more to those who are responsible for supporting the agricultural sector, protecting the food security of the entire population and helping to ensure the economic vitality of our regions.
While we consult on the territory and agricultural activities, our farmers get up every morning to feed our world, despite climatic hazards, pressures on their territory, lack of financing and government actions structuring, or even succession. After all, who would want to get into a sector in which the Prime Minister has no interest?
Hear this call to make the necessary decisions: the solutions are within your reach to ensure, finally, an agriculture that is truly remunerative for those who dedicate themselves to it, which healthily feeds everyone, an agriculture that is resilient, diversified, contributing to the health of soils and ecosystems, and to the vitality of life in the region. Agriculture focused on social and environmental innovation.
Mr. Legault, your government has in its hands the opportunity to take a historic step forward, to meet the current challenges, as few governments have had the courage to do. Will you grab it?