Agriculture Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2018

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you.

You also mentioned the transportation problems. Earlier this year we had CN and CP Rail before the committee to explain the problems they are experiencing getting our crops to market. I'm from Vancouver Island. We can see the problems all the way down the line.

We have freighters parked in anchorages everywhere. Port infrastructure is simply not capable of handling what we want to do to export to the Asian market. The railways gave their assurances that they have a plan and that they're working on it, but all the subsequent witnesses who represented farm groups did not believe them. Now that we're half a year forward, is there anything that gives you hope from your point of view? Is there anything more we can do? I know we passed Bill C-49, but is there light on the horizon in this particular area?

[Mehgin Reynolds]

I hope so. I've been in some conference calls with CN about this, and they do have a plan. They're working really hard. It's going to come down to what our winter is like and seeing how they implement that plan. Right now I think the mood of farmers across western Canada, especially ones in Saskatchewan who are completely landlocked, is they are going to believe it when they see it.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

We've heard a lot of witnesses say there is a disconnect between the consumer and the farmer. When people go to a grocery store, they don't automatically make that connection to where their food came from and how it was produced. I don't think we value farmers enough in our society. What more can we do to change that? Is there a conversation going on with the grain farmers of Canada or the subsidiary provincial organizations about how we make school children more aware of this, how we value the food producers who put this amazing product on our plates?

[Mehgin Reynolds]

I think education is going to be the big one in finding something that is federal, not just provincial, and trying to put programs together that may or may not have a great influence.

There's something going on in Europe. In the U.K. they're doing FaceTime with a farmer in classrooms, which I think is a really great idea. You build trust with that farmer. You communicate, ask questions. Then it will be interesting to see some of the stuff Health Canada wants to do with labelling, creating a sustainability label on food. You will need to tread very lightly, because when I grow my crops in Saskatchewan with zero till, I have a lot less moisture than a farmer growing wheat in Manitoba.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Ms. Reynolds. I have to move on.

Mr. Drouin, you have six minutes.

Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Stanford and Ms. Reynolds, thanks for sharing your story.

When we talk about stigma, I think the fact that you're sharing your story today is breaking those barriers.

I want to touch on social media. Maybe Mr. Stanford, because you're a fourth-generation farmer and you were there, you probably remember the days when social media was not there, I hope when you were helping your dad or your mom. How do you feel about the pressures of social media?

Mr. Dreeshen talked about animal activists being online and the pressures of society. When you're farming back home, you're isolated in some way, but at the same time you have the whole world putting this pressure on you. Talk to me about that. Has that impacted you at all?

[Sean Stanford]

It has. It used to bother me a lot more than it does now, because you're never going to change the mind of some people. Certain animal activists are always going to think farm producers or cattlemen are the worst people in the world. A group of people in the middle are trying to find their way and trying to decide if the farmers or PETA are telling the truth.

All I can do.... Even on my own social media, I love sharing my story, sharing my farm, showing pictures. I'm doing the best job I can. I put my story forward, and hopefully if somebody has a question about it, they can ask and I'll answer it honestly. I'm here. Obviously I have nothing to hide. I'm willing to answer any questions about my farm and my production.

As far as I'm concerned, Canada produces the best-quality and healthiest food in the world. I don't see any reason we should be ashamed or afraid to answer questions about it.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Hear, hear.

You've mentioned that when you shared your story, you were bullied. We had a witness last week who said the same thing, but after a while the community came around. Are you feeling that? I'm asking the same thing of Ms. Reynolds, if she wants to answer.

[Sean Stanford]

Yes, definitely. It's very different now from how it was. Mental health in agriculture is really just starting to turn into a huge thing. It's starting to snowball a bit now.

If I had been talking about this a few years ago, there would have been a lot more pressure on me and questions like, “What are you doing?” or “What are you thinking about?” Now it's really starting to catch on. People are starting to understand and say, “Hey, we actually have some of these issues, too. We don't have to beat this guy down, because we're actually suffering from some of the same problems; we just didn't know about it”, or, “Maybe we can all work together and try to solve these things.”

I'm not a crazy person. It's just that once in a while I need some things to help me straighten myself out. It's not the end of the world. People are finally starting to understand that.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Within your community, have you started a community-based group, or are you just sharing your story with us here today?

[Sean Stanford]

I've talked to a lot of people individually at home. There's not necessarily a group, but I'll talk to anybody, whether it's ag producers, friends of mine from school days or other people in the community. We've talked about it openly, but there's not necessarily a support group.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

In your opening statement you mentioned that an app could be helpful to a certain segment of the population who feel they may need to reach out for help. One of the things we're looking at is how the federal government can help.

The provinces deliver services, but from a marketing perspective, do you feel that the Canadian Mental Health Association is doing enough to target producers, in terms of saying it's okay to talk about mental health? Are you aware?

[Sean Stanford]

I haven't actually seen a lot from them. The most I've seen or talked about or heard about to do with mental health is through the Do More Agriculture Foundation in Saskatchewan. They're a great group, and they're almost a middleman between, say, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the producers. A lot of farmers or producers don't know exactly where to go for the information. There could be more of a direct route straight to producers. They just need to know how to channel us and how to talk to us directly.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

In big organizations they often develop a peer system by which they train a few folks in the organizations to identify those who might be impacted by mental health. Do you think a peer system could be helpful in your community?

Again, Ms. Reynolds mentioned that discretion is extremely important, and I certainly support that. Do you think that would be helpful?

[Mehgin Reynolds]

That's what Do More Ag is trying to do. Right now they've partnered with FCC and bringing mental health first aid into rural communities. That's a huge step forward, because we can be at a certain place where we're able to realize, “Okay, we need to talk about it. Maybe we need to reach out for help”, but there are a lot of times when we don't know we're there. Unless you've been trained in mental health first aid, you don't know how to recognize that.

The people we deal with the most may be the input people, the other farmers when we're in our busy seasons, or our bankers. It's important for those people to know how to identify that I'm struggling and that maybe they need to help me get help. Bringing mental health first aid into rural communities, if we can, would be really crucial.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Ms. Reynolds.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Drouin.

Mr. Poissant, you have six minutes.

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, La Prairie, QC]

Thank you very much for your testimony. The information you provide us today will form the basis of our study. We need to know exactly what is happening on the ground, and you are in the best position to tell us that given what you have experienced.

I was a dairy farmer for 40 years, and I had my own struggles. Earlier we talked about farm rallies and the fun we had together. I remember, when I was young, that we walked a kilometer down the range with the cows. People were patient. Ours was a nice peaceful type of farming. We could go to mass on Sunday mornings and then sit on the porch talking with people on Sunday afternoons.

The situation isn't at all the same today. I'm afraid we're reaching a point of no return. I'd like to know the future you envision for our farming industry.

[Sean Stanford]

I don't know if we have necessarily gone to the point of no return. Agriculture definitely has changed. There are fewer farms, but they seem to be larger. There are fewer individual producers, as you said, than when you would meet with a bunch of your farming colleagues on the church steps and have a visit or something.

We need to have better contact with producers in the same scenarios. Because there are fewer of us, we need to maybe look farther to find the same group of people, the same number of people. As I said, social media and rural Internet are a huge help.

I know that at home there are numerous Hutterite colonies that don't really associate with many individual farmers on a social basis. However, they take up a large portion of the land, so there are fewer and fewer individual farms at home.

It is changing. I don't think it's unsalvageable; we just need to adjust our way of thinking.

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, La Prairie, QC]

Thank you very much.

Earlier you said you were employed on a farm. You come from the farming sector. Your employer must be aware of what you're going through.

Does he provide good support?

[Sean Stanford]

I actually own my own farm, so I am my own employer.

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, La Prairie, QC]

I see.

[Sean Stanford]

My wife does keep a pretty good eye on me. She is quite supportive. I farm alongside my father, so he has been a fairly good help since I've opened up about some of these things with him. He doesn't really understand all of the details of it either.

It is different when you work for yourself, in that you have to make all of these decisions. There is a lot more stress than, say, just being a worker for wages or something like that. I'm not saying that working for wages is less stressful by any means, but I definitely feel more weight on my shoulders as a farm owner.

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, La Prairie, QC]

You mentioned waiting times for services. On that subject, I can cite the example of my son, who broke his hand in a farm accident. The posted waiting time at the hospital was 24 hours. He couldn't wait. He had to go back to his farm work. With livestock, you can't afford to be absent.

How could we recommend that waiting times be reasonable for farmers, whether it's for physical or psychological problems?