“Who’s ready? Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me? Who’s ready to build Canada strong?”
Prime Minister Mark Carney opened his victory speech with these words, pledging to “build an independent future” for Canada. There is no doubt that Carney’s focus on strength and independence is pushback against the desires of President Trump to own Canada, but he is making what he has expressed as a hinge moment of history into a time to build knowing the “we have many, many other options than the United States to build prosperity for all Canadians.”
Among these “options” is the goal to select and initiate projects that strengthen Canada’s economy, offer economic benefits, have a high likelihood of successful execution, are of high priority for Indigenous leaders, and potentially contribute to clean growth. Although he has not (as of this writing) directly addressed any plans or changes for the food industry, much can be inferred from his speeches, selections of Ministers, and the First Ministers meeting held in early June.
The early June meeting of the First Ministers showed them to be in sync with Carney’s plans, “welcoming” his commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are made within two years, and committing themselves to beginning immediately to do so.
In selecting ministers related to the food and health industries, Carney also appeared to focus on these goals, selecting Heath MacDonald as Minister of Agriculture and Marjorie Michel (Papineau) as Minister of Health. One of MacDonald’s primary goals is to personally meet with farmers and provincial ministers across Canada to build trust, understand their issues, and work to contribute to their success. Michel’s vast history in politics has shown her to be a strong advocate of sustainable networking who is “passionate about people,” with economic inclusion being a primary focus.
Carney’s push to lower trade barriers between provinces and increase “Made in Canada” exports is also intended to help build the economy and reduce reliance on imports. And it is a push that is likely to also flow over to the food industry, with Canadian agriculture associations expressing their desire for the Prime Minister to invest boldly in Canada’s agricultural sector and committing to work with the government to support family farms across Canada through long-term policies.
With many decisions and initiatives to be developed over the next years, and throughout Carney’s team, TAG is committed to staying attuned to all of these and providing our updates and analysis to keep you informed. If you aren’t on the subscription list for TAG’s weekly newsletter, click here to subscribe!
All written content in TAG articles, newsletters, and webpages is developed and written by TAG experts, not AI. We focus on the realities and the science to bring you the most current, exacting information possible.
