Like many of his neighbours in rural Alberta, Ron Krywko, a grain farmer in Sturgeon County, is planning to vote Conservative in the election later this month.
He wasn’t a fan of the carbon tax, is concerned about China’s tariff on Canadian canola oil — put in place after Canada put tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum products — and doesn’t feel heard by the current federal government.
“I think a lot of the farmers are just frustrated with what’s been happening and they want a change,” he said during an interview.
Krywko, who plans to grow wheat, canola and oats on his small farm northwest of Edmonton this spring, said he hopes Canada’s next prime minister can get rid of tariffs and ensure farmers have markets for their products.
“It’s a little frustrating that politics is playing such a huge role in my operation,” he said.
Krywko lives in the heart of Conservative territory. The party had members of Parliament elected in 30 of Alberta’s 34 ridings during the 2021 federal election, with three non-Conservatives winning in ridings in Edmonton and one in Calgary. Conservatives also took all 14 seats in Saskatchewan.
Farmers across the prairies have told CBC News they have felt punished by Liberal policies in recent years and burdened by inflation, taxes and high land prices.
Several farmers in northern Alberta shared similar concerns with CBC News recently, while also saying they believe the agricultural sector has been overlooked in the election campaign.
Shane Strydhorst, who grows canola, fava beans, spring wheat and barley on his farm in the County of Barrhead about 150 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, said international trade is his biggest and most pressing election issue.
He said about 85 per cent of Canada’s pulse crops are exported in a typical year.
“What we really need is a government that’s going to be willing to grow our international markets, that’s going to be willing to strengthen, build and rebuild diplomatic relations with our trading partners around the world and maintain access to those markets for our products.”
Strydhorst said some farmers he knows are considering changing cropping plans this year because of trade disputes, replacing some canola fields with barley, for example.
Though trade and tariffs are top of mind for many farmers, those issues don’t matter as much to Michiel Verheul, the head grower at High Q Greenhouses, 45 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Verheul, who is also the president of the board of the Alberta Greenhouse Growers Association, said most growers in his industry export very little. High Q Greenhouses sells its ornamentals, herbs and vegetables to other commercial greenhouses across western Canada.
Verheul said greenhouse growers want to see a federal government focused on food security and maintaining and modernizing federal business management programs like AgriStability and AgriInvest.
“We need to make sure that all these acres remain productive and whether it comes from a greenhouse or whether it comes from a field crop, they’re equally as important,” he said.
Verheul said he hasn’t yet decided which party should receive his vote and he’s waiting to see what else emerges during the campaign.
Verheul, Krywko and Strydhorst all said they haven’t been hearing a lot of agricultural issues discussed during the election campaign.
“I don’t think it’s getting the attention it deserves,” Strydhorst said.
“What I would like to see is our politicians raising the issues and raising the profile of agriculture and its importance in our province and in our country and standing behind us to support us.”
