I recently had the good fortune to attend the Ontario Farmland Trust’s (OFT) annual forum, held in Elora in March. Rene Van Acker, President of the University of Guelph, provided one of my big take-home messages from the day. In the midst of all the turmoil of the world, we can still take our energy and frustration and turn it into positive change.  Especially during this year of municipal elections in Ontario. 

For anyone who reads or listens to the news, it can be overwhelming whether you are looking globally, nationally, locally, or even personally. Every day new wars are being waged around the world, some Canadians are talking about chopping up our country, we are losing farmland in Ontario at a rate of 319 acres PER DAY (according to the last census released in 2021), and we are all becoming fatter and more stressed. 

Phew! It can make you want to just tune out and focus on spring planting and what to make for supper. While this is a good thing to do from time to time, completely disengaging is not going to help. If we want to keep a healthy place for our grandchildren to live, we’ll need to take a rational look at what we can do now.

Van Acker talked about how we go forward as we recognize our common concern. While movements tend to be born out of frustration, that frustration needs to be tempered into something else in order to enact real change. Shaming people into caring by promoting negative slogans is not an effective method. “This builds a wall that will rally the choir but will not build bridges,” he said. 

Instead, think about farming and farmland protection in a different way in order to broaden the tent and bring more people in. Think about a wider array of agricultural “deliverables” – not only what we farm, but how we farm and what are the other benefits agriculture brings to society. Another way to build momentum is to remember there can be unexpected alliances that bring people together in positive ways.  

At writing, we are still waiting for the details of the recent announcement amalgamating Ontario’s Conservation Authorities and what that will mean for us in rural Ontario. I am putting this together with the statistics around farmland loss. Together, these two factors raise alarm bells in my mind about our ability to feed ourselves and manage our natural environment in the future. But the good news is that all is not lost, we can have an impact, and this year – a municipal election year – we can impact more than we might think. 

One thing I learned by helping an All Candidates meeting in the last municipal election is that we all need a lesson on what our municipal politicians can do, and what they can’t. For example, you are wasting your breath if you rail at your local councillors about closed hospital emergency rooms or military spending. These are provincial and federal matters; they are not under the control of our municipal politicians. 

Instead, think locally this year and carefully consider what matters and who can make a difference. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) provides a good resource if you need a refresher. Municipal councils are responsible for providing day-to-day services for their people. There are five main areas: 

 

• Culture – community centres, libraries, parks, recreation; 
• Emergency services - ambulance and paramedics, fire services, police; 
• Health and Social Services – child and long-term care, shelter and community housing, immunization and disease tracking; 
• Infrastructure – broadband, internet, electricity, public transit, waste disposal, roads and sidewalks, water and wastewater; 
• Land and Resources – environmental conservation, land-use planning, climate change response. 

That last one brings us back to my main concern today. The fact that “climate change response” falls under municipal jurisdiction reminds us that while climate change itself is a big global concern, responding to it is a local one. Which is just another way to say that it affects each of us in our everyday lives, and sometimes in very different ways. It is no longer unusual for municipalities to declare climate change emergencies. But that is a rabbit hole for another day. 

As Martin Straathof, Executive Director of OFT, points out, we are challenged because two of our basic needs – homes and food – are in competition for one of our most valuable resources – prime agricultural farmland. Our municipal politicians sit at the confluence of this as they are responsible for managing how these two needs get sorted out now and in the future. 

In Ontario, farmland protection is a shared responsibility between the province, which enacts high-level legislation such as the Provincial Planning Statement, and municipalities, which implement these policies using official plans, zoning by-laws, and approving applications for zoning changes. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has representatives who work with AMO because they understand the vital role that municipal governments play in protecting farmland. 

Advocating for farmland preservation is the purpose of the Ontario Farmland Trust. Their mission is “to protect and preserve Ontario farmlands and associated agricultural, natural, and cultural landscapes of food production for the benefit of Ontarians today and future generations.” Straathof highlighted the momentum behind farmland preservation as people come together under their umbrella to grow a network of like-minded people across the province. The sold-out forum brought together farmers, municipal councillors, land use planners, and folks with other perspectives who care. 

For those interested in learning more or becoming involved with farmland protection, the OFT is a good place to start. Their website provides a lot of information as well as other ways to be involved. You can donate, become a member, volunteer, or even protect your farm through the Farmland Protection Program. This program has currently protected over 3,200 acres across 31 Ontario properties.◊