First I'd like to thank the honourable members of this committee for the opportunity to appear before you. It's a real privilege to exercise our right to participate in a democratic process.
My presentation essentially summarizes the results of the study I co-wrote with two other researchers from the University of Saskatchewan. The study is entitled “Farm Women and Canadian Agricultural Policy” and was published by the Status of Women in the summer of 2006. All of you should have a copy. It's in both English and French.
While women play a very critical role in the operation of Canadian farms, there has been very little explicit effort to identify their policy needs and hear about their vision for agricultural policy. This reality completely contradicts the Canadian government's commitment, articulated in 1995, to achieve gender equality at all levels of decision-making and to incorporate women's perspectives in governance.
The reality is that farm women participate less in policy-making forums and remain underrepresented in farm and commodity organizations. For all intents and purposes, farm women, rural women, remain quite marginalized from agricultural policy development. For example, in this study we found that only 6.7% of the women who were part of this study had actually participated in the government consultations that led up to the agriculture policy framework. So that means rural women's needs were not reflected in the APF.
Our study provides important insights into the situation of rural women in six provinces. It provides much needed information about rural women's experiences, their economic and social context, and recommendations for an inclusive agricultural policy in Canada. I also need to stress that the study clearly points to the need for a well-funded institution like the Status of Women, which in this case helped ensure that rural women's voices would be heard in agricultural policy circles.
So this research essentially documents issues that rural women consider as critical features of rural Canada that need to be fully integrated into agricultural policy. It conducts a gender analysis of the APF and develops recommendations to rectify the historical exclusion of women and their legitimate concerns. Due to time constraints, I can only mention some of the key findings of this study.
It really confirms a number of trends that result from the restructuring of rural Canada. First, there are fewer farms and fewer farmers, and those who remain are getting older. Farms are getting bigger, and larger farms need more capital investment. Higher gross receipts are not necessarily translating into higher realized net income for farmers. Increased trade is not translating into higher realized net income for farmers. Farm debt has increased dramatically. High-volume export-oriented industries are economically vulnerable, and there has been increased corporatization of agriculture.
When women were asked what specific changes in their lives they had experienced as a result of Canadian agricultural policies, they pointed to a more acute farm financial crisis in rural Canada. This farm financial crisis is the major stress in the lives of farm women and their families. They describe the impact of the farm crisis as multidimensional, and it has significant implications for the quality of life in rural communities.
The farm financial crisis is forcing farming families to seek other sources of income to supplement their livelihoods. This adds to their workload and stress, as women are working far more hours. They are much busier with farm work, they are much busier working off the farm, and they are also much busier working at community volunteer work.
The farm financial crisis effectively forces farming families to leave the farm, and they are doing so in droves, especially the youth. Women linked farm transfer, or succession, intimately with the farm financial crisis and the long-term sustainability of the family farm. They are deeply concerned about their children's ability to make a living from farming, given the current situation. Many doubt the wisdom of advising their children to take on the farm, and they question whether farming will sustain their families in the long term. Consequently, rural communities are doubly disadvantaged. They lose people, businesses, and services through depopulation, and there are fewer people available to do the critical volunteer activities that keep rural communities vibrant. So as rural populations decline, an ever smaller tax base remains to support the necessary rural infrastructure. Farming families are now travelling further to access everything, from banking to shopping, health, education, and recreational services.
The study reveals that rural women see government policy directions as contributing largely to the farm financial crisis. Women noted that government policies support the corporatization of agriculture, they contribute directly to the industrialization of agricultural production, and largely exclude the interests of farming families. I'll quote one woman because I think she captured a real sense of what women are thinking about government policy, as they have experienced it to date. This is a quote:
The government told us, if you can't get enough dollars in this, then add something else,
--the diversification strategy--
and if you can't get enough dollars in this, then add something else--all the time thinking that with extra income, you don't get extra expenses. And then, if that isn't making it for you, go do marketing too. I used to say, we had one job that didn't pay. Now we have three that don't pay.
It's important to note that in spite of the overwhelming pressures of the recurring farm crisis, rural women retain deep connections with their farms and communities. For many, farming provides a sense of rootedness, a deep connection to and a passion for the land, and a deep connection to rural communities. They value this for themselves and for their families. Farming is deep in their spirit, in their heart, and in their blood, and for many, farming is the only thing they've ever wanted to do. They see farming as playing a critical role in a society that values production and consumption of safe and good-quality food.
This leads me to the final question of the study, which was what would a gender-sensitive agricultural policy look like? In other words, what kinds of solutions should we be looking at? Here they stress that an effective agricultural policy must address the root causes of the farm financial crisis. The concrete recommendations of the study point to the need to build an inclusive agricultural policy whose goals and programs rest on four key pillars: financial stability for farm families in rural communities; a domestic food policy; strengthening social and community infrastructure; and ensuring safe and healthy food and environment.
All the recommendations are written up in detail in the fifth chapter of this study. I'll leave it at that.