20 BC MP appointed ag critic by TAMARA LEIGH


DUNCAN – A Vancouver Island MP will bring a new lens and voice to the federal agriculture landscape. Alistair MacGregor, MP for the riding of


Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, was named as the federal NDP’s new agriculture critic during a shake-up of its shadow cabinet in early February. He has since been elected second vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food as well. The appointment is welcomed by


MacGregor, who has a keen interest in agriculture. He has a small farm in the Cowichan Valley with his wife, Amy, who is using permaculture principles to develop the land.


“Since I’ve been elected, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for me to participate in the planning part of the farm, but when I get home I usually have a long list of things to catch up on, and it often involves a wheelbarrow and a shovel,” he says amicably. MacGregor demonstrated interest in the issues long before his appointment, hosting an agriculture and food consultation in his riding in June 2017 to provide input on the development of a national food policy. He also recognizes that there is much more to learn.


“Farming practices in the Cowichan Valley


are not like the Prairies. One of the things I am interested in is doing some cross-country travel, and I am working with my colleagues who represent other parts of the country,” he says, giving a nod to the commodity organizations in Ottawa and the work they do to inform MPs. Turning his critic’s eye to the bigger picture


of agriculture, MacGregor notes the complexities and multi-faceted nature of the file – overlapping jurisdictional and ministry lines, and touching on portfolios including trade, transportation, immigration, health and environment.


He used his first opportunity to participate in Question Period in his new role to take aim at the risk that recent trade agreements pose to Canada’s supply-managed sectors and call the Liberal government out for claiming to support supply management while making concessions for increased market access. “I’ve had a small glimpse of what a farmer’s


world is like, and I appreciate how hard they all work to provide us with food,” says MacGregor.


“I ultimately hope to be a very good ally on the side of the farmer in developing policy in Canada,” he adds.


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narcotic it isn’t eligible for support from business risk management programs and other initiatives under Growing Forward 2. How the legal crop will be handled under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership is unknown. “There’s really a few key issues that are facing agriculture right now and the short answer to each of those is, ‘We don’t know yet.’ We’re working on them,” Mack said. Mack told Country Life in BC that cannabis is categorically different than grapes, which have displaced hundreds of acres of tree fruits in the Okanagan Valley for alcohol production. Cannabis is more potent straight from the plant than grapes. “Grapes don’t pose a threat in and of themselves,” he said. The efforts to incorporate the industry in mainstream agriculture are significant, however, and Mack looks forward to working with a community of legal growers. “Until [July], we don’t have much of a mandate on this,” he said. “I know in two years my ministry’s going to be defending this industry in the same way we defend any other controversial industry we have, but right now it seems weird.”


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2018


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