Ottawa-Farming, forestry and other key sectors need a coordinated gameplan to inform the rest of the country about the importance of rural Canada to the nation’s prosperity, says Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada.

Rural Canada generates about 30 percent of the country’s GDP and an even bigger share of its exports, Nighbor told the Recognizing Rural Canada discussion.

But agriculture, forestry, mining, energy and fisheries all struggle with getting governments and the public to understand their challenges and accomplishments, he said.

The forestry sector “is working on climate action, emissions reductions, wildfire risk mitigation, accelerating economic reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, the conservation of biodiversity, and delivering products to support the affordable housing agenda – all at the same time and in the absence of a government-supported industrial roadmap.”

Hopefully the rural-based organizations will come together to speak to governments and urban Canadians in a united voice, he said.

Despite the economic contributions of the rural industries, “there’s a sense that it’s the southern and urban agenda that matters and those working in northern and rural Canada have unique needs that are just not always top of mind – or maybe not clearly understood.”

Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hitchings said rural Canada struggles with inadequate internet connectivity. Conservative rural development critic Dan Mazier, a former president of Keystone Agriculture Producers, said rural Canada is “too often an afterthought for Canadians. For those of who live there, it’s our home and our job.”

In a panel on agriculture, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Conservative Lianne Rood said younger farmers find it harder to get into the business and better high speed internet service is needed “so they can work and do school.”

Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary for agriculture and Liberal MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, said there is a need for people to pay attention to rural Canada where food, housing and worker shortages are big issues and transportation and housing are huge challenges. The arrival of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) may be creating a rural renaissance.

Cathy Jo Noble, vice-president of policy and government relations at the National Cattle Feeders’ Association, also noted the chronic labour shortage and how many TFWs have become landed immigrants. The sector suffers from a lack of government understanding of its needs and what farmers are doing to reduce their carbon emissions.

Farmers understand what it takes to have healthy land and animals and government needs to allow them to implement innovations, she said. “But as government budgets get cut, the civil servants just don’t have the money to spend on us.”

Robert Ghiz, CEO of the Canadian Telecommunications Association and former premier of PEI, said only 67 per cent of rural Canada is connected to home internet and the figure drops to 50 per cent for Indigenous Canadians. Rural Canada needs “to do a much better job of getting the message to urban Candians about the importance of rural Canada.”

More information is available at ruralprosperity.ca

This news item was prepared for National Newswatch