Agriculture Committee on Oct. 18th, 2018

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Good morning, everyone. Welcome.

Since our chair is a little late, I have decided, with the agreement of my colleagues from each party, to start the meeting so that we can hear from the witnesses. We look forward to hearing what they have to say.

Today, we are continuing our study on the mental health challenges that Canadian farmers, ranchers and producers face.

Today we have the opportunity to have with us, as an individual, Stewart Skinner, the Director of Agriculture at Imani Farms, as well as Maria Labrecque Duchesneau, Founder of the organization Au coeur des familles agricoles and the farm outreach worker project. Also with us is Patrick Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Thank you very much to all the witnesses for being here today.

We'll start right away with Stewart Skinner.

You have six minutes for your opening remarks.

[Stewart Skinner, Chief Farming Officer, Imani Farms, As an Individual]

Thank you very much.

Good morning. I'd like to thank this committee for undertaking this study. I'm grateful to have been asked here today.

This committee has heard from academic experts such as Andria Jones-Bitton. You have heard the overarching statistics that demonstrate that we need to address this problem. I want to use this opportunity today to share my personal journey in hopes of giving those statistics a face.

I returned to my family's pig farm in 2010 after completing my Master of Science degree in agricultural economics. In 2012 I planned and executed an expansion of the business. The project did not go well. A combination of poor performance and difficult market conditions drastically eroded our family's financial position.

The financial stress triggered a depressive period. The bottom for me came on a cold winter morning in December 2012. I had an extension cord in my hand, walking through the barn, trying to figure out where I could hang myself. In my darkest moment, a voice fought through and convinced me to call my parents for help, which started my pathway to recovery.

My treatment was unconventional. I walked away from farming. I travelled to Kenya to reset my outlook on the world. Then I worked in the political world, first as a candidate in the provincial election in 2014 in Ontario and then as a policy adviser to the Honourable Jeff Leal at Queen's Park in the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Today I operate lmani Farms, a diversified hog production company that produces conventional and niche market hogs, generating over $3.6 million in direct economic activity while supporting approximately 15 full-time-equivalent jobs through direct employment and contract production arrangements.

Understanding mental health requires acceptance that it is unlike other medical issues because of the individual nature of each case. Both the triggers and solutions will vary from situation to situation, but I would like to share what I see as some shared agricultural stressors.

As farmers, we are exposed to a multitude of uncontrollable risk vectors. Disease, weather, and geopolitical issues can all impact our bottom line, while the tools to mitigate these risks are very limited.

Another stressor stems from what I would describe as legacy pressures. One of my greatest sources of pride is that I am a sixth-generation farmer; however, one of my greatest fears is that I will be the generation responsible for destroying the family farm, that I would become responsible for destroying years of hard work by previous generations by losing the farm. This issue is complex, full of nuance and goes far beyond simple financial considerations.

Finally, there is the difficulty with understanding our consumers. While public opinion polls may indicate a supportive public, the rapidly growing distrust that people have of modern food production has fostered poor public policy choices and has forced farmers to defend the very tools that ensure Canadians have access to a safe, affordable, and healthy food supply.

We are the first generation of producer that has to defend making food cheaper. Saskatchewan dairy farmer Cam Houle summed up this paradox well by saying, "Farming is the art of losing money while working 400 hours a month feeding people that think you're trying to kill them."

Beyond a confusing general public, there is also a small minority of people who attack my integrity and question my morality because I raise animals for food. Our ancestors only had to worry about weather and prices. Today, we farmers have the added worry of being a target of an extreme activist, something that takes a serious toll on me mentally.

What can be done by you to help address this situation? As a livestock farmer, I say the first thing the Government of Canada should do is prioritize the development of a national livestock insurance plan that would allow me to have coverage for major disease disasters, as my crop farming colleagues have. Our greatest threat to financial stability in our farm is animal health, and AgriStability cuts by the previous government neutered the program's ability to act as a de facto insurance program for livestock farmers. Alternatively to a national insurance plan, the restoration of reference margins within AgriStability to 85% could help alleviate some of the challenges.

I recognize that the federal government does not normally deliver health care directly to Canadians. However, I would propose a $25-million fund within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the creation of a front-line response system for Canadian farmers and their families.

Funds should be directed to build capacity within rural and remote communities on platforms that are accessible to farmers regardless of location, while partnering with the groups already focusing on this specific issue, even if they are outside the traditional health care delivery system.

I want to thank you for this time this morning. I look forward to your questions and will make myself available following this meeting for any members or staff wishing to speak further.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Skinner. I offer my apology for being late and not welcoming you here.

Welcome to you, too, Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau and Mr. Smith.

Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau, you have six minutes for your opening remarks.

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau, Founder, Au coeur des familles agricoles, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your keen interest in the plight of our Canadian farm families.

This rural distress is something I experience, and I have been for part of my life, coming from the agricultural sector myself. It prompted me to found the organization Au coeur des familles agricoles, or ACFA, 20 years ago, by integrating an innovative approach, that of the farm outreach worker.

I have followed the previous meetings closely, and I can only agree with what has been said. However, I believe that the time for research is over. It is urgent that concrete actions be taken to reduce as much as possible this distress that causes the disappearance of farms, which contributes to the devitalization of our rurality.

How did we get here?

Agriculture is first and foremost a profession that is practised out of passion, a profession that contains its share of unexpected events. Agricultural businesses must be efficient and meet many requirements. This profession necessarily requires self-sacrifice, since farm work must have priority over everything else to be profitable. All this daily work that weighs on the whole family contributes to creating certain distress at one time or another.

While farm families are highly resilient to many challenges, from bad weather, to diseases affecting the herd, to market fluctuations and to imports and exports, emotions such as uncertainty, insecurity and doubt slowly and insidiously infiltrate the system, causing deep damage over time. Indeed, it is difficult to guarantee the farm's profitability when the pillars of the economy collapse and the family's livelihood, which is sometimes also the ancestral heritage, is reduced because of guaranteed debt. The ability to manage stress may have limits, and the farmer may need help or support from a resource person who understands the realities of the rural environment.

Agricultural producers give priority to their business and activities at the expense of their health and family relationships. This is why the concept of outreach workers, who play a front-line role by answering the call, going on location and adapting their intervention based on each case, must be promoted. Farm outreach workers are first and foremost an agents of change. From a clinical point of view, the main component of their functions is the identification of farm families, their support and assistance in meeting their health and well-being needs.

It often happens that the people who need help don't ask for it themselves. Thanks to this proactive approach, it is the people in the neighbourhood, family members, friends and others who will see to it that the intervenor present in the community, in other words, the farm outreach worker, is called on.

The intervention philosophy of the farm outreach worker is based on a proactive preventive approach and a sharpened knowledge of the network specific to agricultural businesses. This allows the worker to intervene with an agricultural producer before he or she even applies for assistance. It is essential that the farm outreach worker be seen within the agricultural network and frequent it in order to gradually get to know the actors in the field, who will come to collaborate with the worker in all confidence. The ultimate goal of the farm outreach worker's support interventions is to keep farms active by influencing the well-being of farmers and their family members, who support them in their efforts.

Keeping agriculture healthy means keeping agriculture in business. The economic health of the farm contributes to the vitality of the outreach and that of its municipality. The impact of the economic health of family farming extends beyond regional and national borders.

The farm outreach worker makes sense in the strength of the network. If the outreach worker is able to detect the farmer's greatest cause of stress through the existing network, he or she will be better able to respond to the situation by suggesting appropriate solutions or resources. If, for example, the farmer's problem is debt, the farm outreach worker will explain the benefits of the federal mediation service to the farmer. Farm outreach workers will even be able to support farmers in their approach. This service is free of charge, which is not insignificant. If the problem is more of an alcohol or drug dependency, farm outreach workers will support farmers and talk to them about the resources available. For outreach workers, there are as many resources as there are problematic situations; all they need to do is know about them.

Right now, you, the members of the committee, are part of this network.

However, this network lacks some innovation in terms of resources, such as creating a position for an agriculture ombudsman for agricultural businesses. Many producers told me about their frustration with disputes that were going nowhere because the cost of legal counsel was far too high and the process was far too long. Given this lack of justice, people in the agricultural business community know full well that farmers will have no recourse. Without an agriculture ombudsman, acting as a negotiator, we will have a David and Goliath situation.

Knowledge of the farm community and the commitment of field workers to respond as quickly as possible are two key factors that give confidence to farm family members and encourage them to open up to talk about their problems. The openness of the field workers when making contact with those people is essential to overcoming mistrust. I often say that producers have three traits: they are proud, arrogant and suspicious. They are always doing business. Knowledge of farm work is essential for field workers. They work based on the farmers' work situation, taking into account the farm schedule. They therefore need to know the timing for seeding, milking, caring for animals or cutting hay, among other things.

I will conclude by inviting you to consult the documents I submitted to your analyst, so that you can get an idea of those 20 years of work.

I am offering my help in establishing the field workers all across Canada, and I do so on a voluntary basis. In my opinion, money is not important when you want to save lives.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau. You will have the opportunity to elaborate later when you answer questions from committee members.

Mr. Smith, you have six minutes.

[Dr. Patrick Smith, National Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Mental Health Association]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me here today. I'm Dr. Patrick Smith, the national CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

CMHA/ACSM is a Canada-wide organization with divisions in every province and the Yukon territory, soon to be in the Northwest Territories. We provide direct services to more than 1.3 million Canadians in more than 330 bricks-and-mortar communities across the country. Those 330 bricks-and-mortar community footprints provide services far beyond their boundaries in rural and remote areas across Canada.

For today's remarks, I want to focus on the mental health needs of the people who feed our communities: our farmers, our ranchers and our agricultural producers.

Canadian farmers experience high rates of anxiety and depression. A 2016 survey from the University of Guelph found that 45% of producers across Canada reported experiencing high stress and emotional exhaustion and that one-third experienced anxiety.

One reason for the high prevalence of mental health problems is that farming is, as we've heard, a volatile occupation. Farmers must deal with not only the physical stressors of the farm environment, but also the regulatory frameworks of production, shifting trends in trade and volatile commodity markets, while managing the high financial burden of operating a farm.

Producers must also deal with the realities of crop and animal losses caused by weather, pest and disease. With climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace. Just over a month ago, we watched as Saskatchewan received a late-September snowfall, a psychologically stressful event for the farmers in the northwestern region, who woke up to discover their unharvested fields blanketed in snow. Although farmers have always contended with the stressors of unpredictable weather, the higher prevalence of extreme weather means that farming is a riskier business and that heightened risk will likely mean more psychological stress.

We also know that Canadian farmers are reluctant to seek help when they need it. The survey from the University of Guelph found that 40% fear the social stigma associated with accessing services and would feel uneasy about seeking help.

Gender is an important factor here. In Canada, men are more likely to die by suicide and are less likely to seek services, likely an effect of the social expectations for men to tough it out—and I'm from farming country myself—an ideology that is even more pronounced, I think, in the farming communities and farming industry.

We also cannot forget some of the most vulnerable and invisible members of this community: migrant farm workers. Every year, roughly 47,000 workers come to Canada to fill labour shortages in the agricultural industry. Migrant farm workers often live in poverty and have little control over their working conditions. They are exposed to occupational, social and environmental stressors that can negatively impact their physical and mental health.

In addition to the usual challenges associated with working in a rural area, migrant workers also experience stressors related to their precarious status as migrants, including social isolation, fear of deportation, language barriers, dislocation from family, limited access to health care and restrictive working conditions that prevent community integration.

In September, CMHA released a policy paper calling for the Government of Canada to introduce a mental health parity act, legislation that proposes to put mental health and the treatment of mental illness on a par with physical illness. Our proposal is rooted in the fact that many Canadians do not have access to the mental health services they need. Although we have a health care system that's considered universal, the basic primary mental health care provided by addiction counsellors, psychologists, social workers and specialized peer support workers is not accessible by most Canadians.

Other countries rely on these disciplines—I myself am a clinical psychologist—as the bedrock, the foundation of their mental health provision. In Canada we're mostly sitting on the sidelines of a publicly funded system. Collectively, we spend $950 million on counselling services each year, 30% spent out of pocket by Canadians.

For Canadians who don't have private insurance and cannot pay, lengthy wait-lists for publicly funded services mean that they may never access the mental health care they need. For rural and remote Canadians, including our farmers, the challenges to service access are even greater. A lack of services, high demand, the need for travel to receive treatment and stigma are often significant barriers. As a community-based organization with a long history of supporting people at a local level with mental health challenges, mental illness and addictions, CMHA knows from experience that providing the necessary supports early in the care of people can greatly change the course of their lives.

What we advocate for is greater investments in community-based services, which not only support people with mental health needs but also reduce their reliance on more expensive care delivered in hospitals, and prevent them from cycling through the acute care system, thus saving precious health care dollars.

CMHA offers a basket of services in the community, including an innovative program called Not Myself Today, which is designed to foster mentally healthy workplaces. Although farming and ranching often involve working outdoors, in what most Canadians might now consider a non-traditional setting, they are workplaces like any other. They require psychological wellness to enable the people who work there to do their jobs. Workplaces subscribed to Not Myself Today receive a tool kit for building a greater understanding of mental health in the workplace, reducing stigma and fostering safe and supportive work cultures.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

We're out of time. Thank you.

We'll go to our rounds of questions.

Mr. Berthold, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much to the witnesses.

I think we are getting into something very concrete.

Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau, I really liked what you said earlier. We already know there are problems. During the meetings at which the committee has studied this sensitive issue, we have heard from a number of witnesses such as Mr. Skinner. We have heard a lot about the stress of transferring a farm from one generation to the next, the financial stress, the stress of farming. As a result of all those factors combined, there are problems, and we know it. Today, you are telling us that this is not the time for new studies, but for action.

Who funds field workers in Quebec?

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

Quebec has taken the “travailleurs de rang” or field workers approach. Part of our funding comes from the Quebec department of health and social services. The rest comes from all sorts of fundraising campaigns.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

How many field workers are there now?

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

I have been retired for two years. I think there are six or seven right now.

The field worker is revolutionary. It is a concept that works. Street workers must become known and recognized on the street and must be trusted. It is exactly the same process for field workers.

We must always remember that agricultural producers are always doing business with people who live near their farms, on either side. When producers are in distress, the neighbour on the left hopes to be able to buy the land. Producers will therefore not open up easily, in order not to show that they are weak. They are there to do business.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

That's something that people generally don't know. A farmer's neighbours are both friends and colleagues, but at the same time, they hope that the farmer will fail, because this will allow them to expand their own farm. A farmer's land is next to that of another producer. We can't move land. You can't buy the land of the fourth neighbour along to expand your farm. You have to buy the land next door for things to go well.

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

That's right.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

That highlights one of the problems. This explains why farmers do not talk to their neighbours about their problems.

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

No, they can't do that.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

You volunteered your services to many people to set up the field workers. Based on your experience, do you think this is the beginning of a solution? Without mentioning specific cases, can you give me an example of an intervention that you or another field worker made that changed someone's life?

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

I have saved many lives and many farms.

Earlier, I mentioned mediation at the federal level. That's a little-known option. I demystified the service for farmers and told them how important it was.

The banking system offers the services of a consultant agronomist to solve debt problems, except that you have to pay, which adds to the debt. This makes no sense. So I tell farmers that there is free mediation at the federal level and that the government appoints a consultant agronomist to handle the case. Farmers are afraid to take that route because they think the government will know everything about their debt. I explain to them that the government already knows that information. Why not take advantage of a service that is free?

By the way, the services of field workers are also free. There is a free mediation system and farmers are not benefiting from it. This means that they will pay nothing for the service.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

You have to go to them.

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

We have to go to them.

If you only knew how many farms have remained in operation only because I have re-established the value of the succession, because I have re-established the value of the neighbour, who was also the farmer's brother, because I have re-established the value of the family work. That's all they need.

Farmers know full well that if they sell their assets, they will become millionaires. You know that, too. So what do they have to do now? Will they continue to work the family farm or will they pay off their debts and live the good life under palm trees? It is important to stop there, because our municipalities are being drained and emptied. We must keep people on our land.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Absolutely.

Mr. Skinner, what do you think of what Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau is doing? Do you think this approach could really help farmers who have to deal with this sort of situation? Clearly, I am talking more about farmers in crisis situations.

[Stewart Skinner]

The short answer would be yes, I do. The most important thing to take away is that mental health requires such varied tools for intervention because every person may be different. For one farmer program A might work, and for another farmer, program B might work.

In my own personal experience of trying to access services through our public health system based on where I lived and the availability of said services, I didn't necessarily find the care I needed in the traditional health care system. I have gone out and have found a private therapist and that works for me.

One of the challenges with that is that because it is outside of that universal system, it's covered out of pocket.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Skinner.

I will have to cut you off there.

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

Mr. Poissant, you have the floor for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to the witnesses for their presentations.

Ms. Labrecque Duchesneau, you mentioned earlier that the federal government has a mediation system. Which organization is responsible for the system? Is it Farm Credit Canada or Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada?

[Maria Labrecque Duchesneau]

It’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

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

In your presentation, you began to list solutions. You mentioned an ombudsman, for example.

Could you briefly explain the other solutions you wanted to talk about?