The last few years in Ontario have been busy ones.

First there were huge changes in our provincial political landscape, then there was the pandemic, and all that went along with it.

When that ended, and we all thought we could get back to normal, we discovered that our normal, last seen several years ago, had moved on without us, becoming what is cleverly called the ‘new normal’.

What never changed was the ongoing separation of sensibilities between urban Ontario and rural Ontario, or more pragmatically put, farmers, and non-farmers.

While the agricultural industry has been busy looking for ways to raise awareness about the role they play in keeping Canadian stomachs full with healthy food, grown and raised in a sustainable way, this provincial government has, as any government can do, clumsily knocked everything off the table in an attempt to reach across it for the salt and pepper.

Politically the big news these days is not about food, even though the federal government has gone on at great length about how all of us have to find ways to protect the farming industry from an ever encroaching urban landscape that has been nibbling at valuable farmland at the astonishing rate of 319 acres each day.

The noise coming from Queen’s Park has been all about expediting housing development, cutting red tape for developers and somehow finding a way to create affordable housing out of thin air.

Bill 97, a provincial document that is designed to help homebuyers and encourage construction of more affordable housing, and Bill 23 also known as Build Homes Faster Act, no longer requires public meetings for plans of subdivisions and prevents third party Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) appeals on Consent and Minor Variance applications.

Both bills have been described by critics as threatening the farming industry.

In a paper titled “Rural Opportunity, National Prosperity: An Economic Development Strategy for Rural Canada” from the federal government, this statement was made, “Rural communities are key to Canada’s economy, culture, and social fabric. They work with urban center’s to make our country the successful, prosperous place that it is. Rural communities are an integral part of the Canadian economy, contributing to the tourism, high-tech, and manufacturing sectors. They are on the front lines of Canada’s resource economy.”

You cannot take the farm out of any rural economy and have a healthy rural economy as a result.

At the same time based on the 2021 Canadian Census of Agriculture, since 2016 the number of farms in Ontario has decreased 2.5 per cent to 48,346, and the total farm area has decreased by 4.7 per cent to 11,766,071 acres.

While these numbers are being digested, there is something else to think about, and that is that 40 per cent of Canadian farmers are going to retire in the next 10 years. These are significant concerns.

On the one hand the federal government is well aware of the state of the agricultural industry and admits it has to be thoughtfully protected. At the same time the provincial government wants to fast track what they see as a priority, and in doing so, may accidentally upset the already fragile balance between urban and rural development.

As is often the case when someone sincerely tries to help you, they do so without listening to what you have to say, and their efforts never end happily.

That is why the farming community in Ontario, is just catching their breath after the pandemic, and looking forward to a few months of their ‘new normal’ instead of rallying around those in their community, challenging aspects of Bill 92 and Bill 23.

Farmers are beginning to speak out, and government at all levels, even municipal, should try listening to them.

It’s in their best interests.

Whether it’s a severance application or an open house about a pending official plan, rural residents would be wise to start paying more attention to what these plans are all about.

It turns out that in the kind of society we all live in, everyone is competing for something.

Sometimes it’s land, sometimes it’s food or just having a place to live.

Satisfying one’s interest such as playing with affordable housing regulations may invariably take something away from someone else.

Agricultural organizations from across Ontario have been speaking up and encouraging their neighbours and fellow farmers to participate in letting their provincial government know how they feel about these two bills for example.

And if you speak loud enough the powers that be may just start paying attention.

Joseph Morin