Achi news desk-
In response to the current crisis in Quebec’s agricultural sector, Quebec Solidaire (QS) is calling on the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government to create an emergency fund for farmers ahead of the harvest season.
At the end of March, Prime Minister François Legault described the difficulties facing the farmers as a “crisis”, and promised to help them further. However, according to QS co-spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the government needs to act faster.
“We can’t wait for the next budget to give agricultural producers some breathing room,” Ndeau-DuBois said. “Of course, there are many things to do, there are many plans to review, and there are problems that will not be solved in a few days. But one thing that the prime minister must do quickly is to release an emergency fund to provide immediate financial assistance to farmers who need it because last season was catastrophic, and 2024 is also planned to be difficult”.
Several demonstrations by farmers have been held in different parts of the province in recent weeks.
On Friday, the Federation of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) of Monterrey held a demonstration in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, where more than a hundred tractors took to the streets.
Nadeau-Dubois was there.
“I’ve done quite a few demonstrations in my life, but I’ve never seen so much distress at a demonstration, (as) I saw on Friday,” he said. “I’ve never seen men in their 40s or 50s have to interrupt their speeches because they start crying.”
A QS spokesman believes that the amount of the emergency fund should be determined in discussion with agricultural producers. However, he believed that the amount allocated for agriculture in the last government budget was insufficient.
“Farmers are being hit hard by climate change, and they are the canaries in the coal mine. They are the first sector of the economy to be hit so hard, but gradually, all sectors of the economy will eventually be hit,” they said. Nadeau-Dubois.
The Fédération de l’UPA de la Montérégie plans to hold another demonstration on Wednesday in Vaudreuil-Dorion, and another on Friday at the Saint-Hyaquinte agricultural exhibition.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 7, 2024.
