Agriculture committee  I can't speak to the statistics of trespassing and not trespassing. That's not my area of expertise. What I can say is that it just feels like there is more going on at all times that is out of control, whether that's more severe weather, a higher risk of disease happening or po

Agriculture committee  That's a really great question. Honestly, it depends on the farmer and on where they live and what they're exposed to. In some areas, there is a higher risk or farmers have a perceived higher risk. I talked to a producer in Saskatchewan earlier this week, and she doesn't feel sh

Agriculture committee  It's geographical, in the sense of the denser population. You have farms.... Ontario is a great case of farms and cities being very close together. I used to farm in Saskatchewan. That's all there was, where I farmed. You have a much higher risk in some areas, even if, again, i

Agriculture committee  I know that John Barlow mentioned Agriculture in the Classroom. A lot of what's going on right now in regard to welcoming people to the farm and doing more of those scheduled visits where it's controlled and it's safe is farmer-led and grassroots-led. I would welcome all of yo

Agriculture committee  We've seen from events around the world and events in our own country that there are individuals whose intent has nothing to do with the welfare of the animals. It is strictly that they want animal agriculture to be stopped. That is why I wanted to highlight the comment on whistl

Agriculture committee  Of course. If anyone were to have someone show up in their house or their home, there would be a huge amount of stress and anxiety created, but add on top of that the fear that you have for your animals. And then again, even if you're raising animals to go into the food system, i

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. Depending on where you farm, if you're in Ontario or Quebec, around cities with much denser populations, there is a much higher risk of trespassing. Whether that is perceived or real, it weighs on someone the same as if that person is about to break

Agriculture committee  I testified in 2018 in the original study on farmer mental health, so I think it would be worth possibly relooking at that and seeing what needs to evolve and going from there. The landscape has changed. That was the tipping point of starting to have the conversation, and now we'

Agriculture committee  It's devastating. Even when you're raising an animal knowing that it's going to go into the food system, you have it for a certain amount of time and during that time you look after it as if it is your child. I think it's important to note—and the comment about whistle-blowers ha

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the opportunity to speak to this. There is a need to have more of a national approach to farmer mental health. There are some incredible provincial programs. Some have been running upwards of 20 years and have a crisis line and free counselling. Affording counselli

Agriculture committee  It would be great to see this, along with working with each province. As I said, some provinces have really great systems, and some are bringing them online right now, so having more of a nationalized approach to that would be great. With the foundation, we have a free national

Agriculture committee  I appreciate that question. One of the biggest things is putting mental health as part of the lens through which we look at things, especially policy creation. Last year, avian influenza was such a big thing across Canada. There are no turkey populations in B.C. anymore. I had s

Agriculture committee  There's so much on a daily basis that a farmer is thinking about or dealing with that is out of their control but directly influences their ability to be successful. All of that is weighing on them at all times. They are living where they work, so they don't have the ability to g

Agriculture committee  Farmers are used to adversity. They watch as an entire crop is destroyed in a 10-minute storm. They grieve, powerless, as disease rips through their herd or flock. They watch market prices tank when global production is good. They pray for rain, for markets, for health and for sa