For a second year in a row, 35% of strawberries rotted in the fields of the Bourdages farm in Saint-Siméon-de-Bonaventure.
“It’s major. It’s causing businesses in the market gardening sector to fall. For me, market gardening is my primary mission, my DNA. It’s the catalyst for all my other sales,” says Pierre Bourdages, co-owner of Ferme Bourdages.
Even though they were granted work permits, many of the workers from Mexico never set foot on Canadian soil because of the visas imposed by Ottawa.
“Why impose work visas when people already have work permits? We want to simplify the administrative paperwork,” asks Mr. Bourdages.
More extreme weather conditions are hurting market gardeners. Last year, humidity caused 30% of crops to be lost. This year, heat has reduced the harvest period. Meanwhile, the agri-recovery program is significantly behind schedule.
“Last year, some producers had too much water and they haven’t received their check yet and we won’t get them until 2025. That’s two years. (…) so we should call it an agri-catastrophe at that point,” the market gardener mentioned.
Pierre Bourdages is asking the provincial and federal governments to invest in sustainable development and research to develop quality products. And that products entering Canada have the same standards to protect local businesses.
“Labor represents 50 to 60% of our production costs. We want to compete, we want to continue to produce and feed people. Now, we need to provide ourselves with financial tools,” the producer demands.
According to Pierre Bourdages, the risk-taking of producers increases every year, which endangers the next generation of farmers and healthy food autonomy.
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