MP’s tour Okanagan farms for study

Preserving Canadian farms is the goal of more than a dozen Member of Parliament who are visiting the Okanagan during a cross country tour.

The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-foods stopped in at several Okanagan farms and agri-businesses, including Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna.

The MP’s heard from owner Stephen Cipes, who says despite world wide recognition for their wines, they struggle to sell product outside of BC.

Cipes says they need government to reduce interprovincial trade barriers.

The host for the Central Okanagan leg of the tour was Kelowna Lake Country MP Ron Cannan, who says more subsidies are not the answer to save Canadian farms.

Cannan says changing the support structure provided to farmers is a more sustainable solution.

“We have a tourist from Alberta who wants to ship a case of wine from one of the wineries here in the Okanagan back to Alberta, it’s prohibited because of the monopoly of the liquor boards,” commented Cannan. “I think that’s archaic.”

“We’re working with the provinces to try and come up with a way of breaking down those barriers,” Cannan continued.

“We shouldn’t be penalizing or prohibiting Canadians from buying Canadian produced goods. We should be encouraging them and breaking down the regulations. There are some local, provincial, federal regulations that we can all work together to make it easier to support the Canadian agriculture industry and that’s our goal.”

Cannan says the tour of Okanagan farms was a great educational opportunity for committee members “…to plant their feet on the ground and talk to the growers and the people who get their hands dirty and understand the challenges they’re facing and how we have to work together, all levels of government.”

“There’s only one tax payer and we have to ensure that those dollars are invested in their industry in a way that’s they see is going to ensure a sustainable food supply for all Canadians” says Cannan.

Also on the tour, Southern Interior NDP M-P Alex Atamanenko, a member of the standing committee.