One of the best things about being a farmer is the freedom. It provides the right to self-determination and autonomy. There are wide open spaces and moments of quiet serenity. Oh, sure there are still struggles with weather and the marketplace, but that's what makes farming the quintessential small business.
Part of what makes farming what it is today is the power of the seed. It's a thing of wonder, how it will produce generation after generation of crops for food and fodder.
Bill C-18 is about the power of seed. As it's written, the bill would significantly restrict farmers' rights to self-determination and autonomy.
Bill C-18 would transfer the power of the seed from working for farmers to working for agribusiness. Along with this, the power of earning potential would also be transferred. Farmers would see not only more red tape as spelled out in this bill, but would see narrower margins. Narrower margins would put more pressure on safety nets such as AgriStability and would push more farmers off the land. During today's commodity super-cycle it may not be as noticeable, but if we look back at the agriculture crisis in the late 1980s, narrower margins from higher seed costs would have had lasting scars on our industry.
In the recent past, this government has dismantled the CWB to give farmers more autonomy and self-determination. That was a great day on many farms in western Canada.
This government also rightly is attempting to reduce red tape for small business. Bill C-18 would restrict farmers worse than the CWB and add mountains of red tape.