For Canadian farm families, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney is proving he’s “all hat, no cattle.” He pitched himself as a master negotiator who could get deals done when it mattered most. However, after six months in office, it is clear Carney over-promised and under-delivered for Canadian farmers.
After yet another trip to the U.K., Carney returned empty-handed. Non-tariff barriers still block Canadian farmers; tariffs are rising; markets are closing and uncertainty grows under this Liberal government’s broken promises.
For Canadian agriculture, the gap between the Liberal government’s promises and results has never been wider, at home and abroad, with tariffs from China and the U.S. and strained trade relations worldwide.
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Just one example of the Liberals’ failure to protect our farmers is China’s latest canola tariffs. When the first set of tariffs were imposed in March, Carney promised “high-level engagement” to lift those restrictions. Instead, the situation has only gotten worse.
China slapped a 75.8 per cent tariff on Canadian canola seed, cutting off our producers from their second-largest market after the United States. The situation has gotten so bad Canadian Canola Growers Association chief executive officer Rick White estimates 5.9 million tonnes of canola demand are now locked out of China.
It’s not just canola either: peas, seafood and pork face harsh Chinese tariffs, and Canadian beef has been blocked from the country since 2021. Now, China has filed an anti-dumping complaint against Canadian pea producers, adding to the already intense pressure on farmers.
At this critical moment, instead of defending Canadian agriculture, the Liberal government rewards Beijing with a billion-dollar loan to build ferries while Canadian producers remain shut out of key markets.
Neither the Prime Minister nor his agriculture minister have gone to China to defend Canadian interests — proving our farmers are not a Liberal priority.
These trade failures don’t begin or end with China. Canada continues to run a significant meat trade deficit with the U.K. In 2024, U.K. beef exports to Canada skyrocketed 174 per cent, reaching nearly $39 million, while Canadian beef and pork exports to the U.K. were almost zero.
Non-tariff barriers and bureaucratic red tape continue to block Canadian producers, even as British beef flows freely into our market. The prime minister boasts about his special relationship with the United Kingdom yet, after two trips, Canadian beef and pork still lack fair market access with no resolution in sight.
The story is just as stark with the European Union. Canadian exports to the EU remain exceptionally low. In the first 11 months of 2024, the EU exported $92 million worth of beef to Canada, while Canadian beef exports to Europe totaled only $14 million, a 40 per cent decline from 2023. Another lost opportunity for Canadian farmers, and another failure of Liberal leadership.
Desperate for any good news, Carney is now looking to South American trade bloc Mercosur without realizing such a trade deal would be catastrophic for Canadian beef producers.
Most recently, the U.S. Fresh Mushrooms Fair Trade Coalition petitioned for antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian mushrooms, alleging margins of between 32-45 per cent.
This is on top of the government’s failure to defend Prince Edward Island potato farmers, as a Liberal-imposed export ban to the United States is destroying the seed potato industry with no compensation.
It’s yet another punitive barrier against producers already burdened by taxes and red tape.
Beef producers also face renewed threats of U.S. mandatory country of origin labelling, which could devastate our highly integrated cattle industry.
Global trade is a high-stakes game, and under this Liberal government, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food industries are being left on the sidelines.
It’s the same old Liberals, treating these critical sectors as an afterthought despite the fact they drive economic growth and sustain rural communities. In 2024 alone, agriculture and agri-food employed 2.3 million Canadians and contributed $149.2 billion to Canada’s GDP — critical pillars of our economy deserving of real support.
Our farmers are facing a mounting financial crisis. According to Statistics Canada, realized net income dropped by $3.3 million in 2024 to just $9.4 million — the largest percentage decline since 2018. At the same time, farm debt surged 13.1 per cent, marking the biggest annual increase since 1981. These figures paint a stark picture, as Canadian farmers are under unprecedented financial pressure, struggling to stay viable while costs continue to climb.
After all, Canada produces what the world needs: high quality, sustainable food which can help address food security at home and abroad.
However, it’s more bait-and-switch from the Carney Liberals. He talks about diversifying trade, but his inaction and punishing policies are achieving exactly the opposite result. Without real prioritization and meaningful change, Canadian farmers will remain shut out of major markets. At the same time, industrial carbon taxes, fertilizer tariffs and the Liberal fuel standard drive input costs higher — making Canadian farmers economically unviable and globally uncompetitive, and increasing food prices for Canadians.
At this critical juncture, Canadian farm families need someone who will fight for them, not someone who is more about photo ops and platitudes — in other words, someone who is all hat and no cattle.
John Barlow is a Conservative MP and shadow minister for agriculture and agri-food.
