Right before the harvest season began, the Waterloo Regional Council passed a motion to ensure crops are not destroyed without a proper crop and land assessment after an incident where 160 acres of nearly ready-to-harvest corn in Wilmot Township was plowed due to an ongoing land development.
On Aug. 1, Havir Sidhu, a Ward 3 councillor in Baden, wrote on Instagram that an expropriated cornfield within the Wilmot Township was destroyed five weeks away from harvest. Wilmot farmers visited the regional headquarters in a tractor convoy on Aug. 25 to confront the regional council about the issue.
Once inside the regional building, regional farmers pleaded the region to disallow the destruction of food crops from occurring. One of the speakers during the event was Mark Reusser, vice-president of the Ontario Waterloo Federation of Agriculture, who said the destroyed corn crops were potentially worth $500,000 during the council meeting between the Wilmot farmers and the regional council.
Even with the region’s attempt to find a solution where Wilmot Township and the Waterloo Region both benefit, Waterloo is still taking advantage of land assembly by taking farmlands from Wilmot.
According to the Government of Ontario, the agriculture and food industry contributed to $48.8 billion of Ontario’s GDP in 2023, or 6.4 per cent. Farming and agriculture also contribute to the region’s employment rate by providing jobs according to the Government of Ontario.
Why then is the impact of the agriculture and food industry being ignored in favor of architectural renovations to accommodate the Region of Waterloo’s increase in population? According to the Region of Waterloo website, it is estimated that Waterloo’s population will grow an average of 1.6 per cent for the next 15 years based on their year-end 2022 population and household estimates. Because of this fast-paced growth, the region is trying to expand housing communities to accommodate the growth in population. They are also trying to increase career opportunities in Waterloo Region, but feel they need more land and “appropriate sites” to build and invest in employers according to the Region of Waterloo.
While the region is concerned about population growth, it doesn’t mean other sectors, such as agriculture, are expandable.
Jennifer Pfenning, a Wilmot farmer and the president of the National Farmers Union, said the implemented motion about crop assessments isn’t enough. Although she supports the solution recommended by the mayor, it is only a temporary solution. She says the region needs to stop the Wilmot farmland expropriations and boundary expansions for the Waterloo Region. To support her argument, she mentions the Region of Waterloo’s strategic plan, “Growing with Care,” a plan approved in the Aug. 15 council report. These are the four main priorities of the plan: forming affordable homes and economic opportunities, maintaining a healthy environment within communities, providing equitable services and creating a positive workplace environment.
The strategic plan focuses on various methods to improve the region through housing, services, business, healthcare and education. But the plan doesn’t focus on agriculture or farming at all, other than the land acknowledgement that says the region’s history of agriculture helps the community grow together and support each other. The region is trying to find a solution to solve its problems in housing, services and climate growth, but it needs to think of the consequences that those decisions can bring to other sectors.
By taking away Wilmot farmlands, we are damaging our food supply and economy. Ontario farmlands are some of the best farmlands in the world. Only four per cent of Canadian land is suitable for growing crops and some of the fertile lands are in Wilmot and neighbouring townships.
The land assessment measure implemented by the Waterloo Region indicates their awareness of how critical Wilmot farmlands are for crop and food production. Land assessment seems like only a temporary solution for expropriating the Wilmot farmlands and finding space within the region to accommodate the population growth. A solution for maintaining the remaining farmlands deprived by the Waterloo Region includes vertical farming, where crops are grown vertically and horizontally stacked layers. This farming method incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims for plant growth optimization and soilless farming techniques.
Passing a motion to protect harvested crops is not enough. The Region of Waterloo should re-evaluate its decisions to renovate the farmlands because agriculture has contributed a large sum of money to Ontario’s GDP, and there is no telling what consequence the region’s decision might cause in the long run.
