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Agriculture platforms

Here's what the 2023 PEI election parties are promising.

PC

  • Support expanding the solar programme for farms and making three-phase power more widely available

    "Support green farming initiatives including expanding the solar program for farms and making three-phase power more widely available to rural businesses and farms that contribute to our primary industries" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

  • Keep agricultural land in food production
  • Support healthy soils initiatives
  • Make provincially-owned land available for community gardens

    "Make provincially-owned land available for organizations to operate community gardens" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

  • Promote local food products

    "Promote local food products and support community based promotional campaigns for our products from land and sea" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

  • Explore controlled-environment and indoor farming

    "Support the agriculture sector by exploring controlled-environment farming and indoor farming through state-of-the-art greenhouses, tunnels, hydroponics and enhanced storage and refrigeration" — With You. For You., 2023-03-24

  • Modernise the Agricultural Insurance Corporation
  • Support mental health services for farmers
  • Support green farming initiatives
  • Support diversification of crops to prepare for climate change

Green

  • Shift to crops and varieties that reduce the need for inputs, such as fertilizers
  • Adopt low and no-till practices
  • Promote carbon credit markets in agriculture and aquaculture

    "Promote the development of carbon credit markets in agriculture and aquaculture, so we can pay farmers and fishers for sequestering carbon." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-20

  • Improve worker retention during slower periods

    "Review labour programs to improve worker retention during slower periods. This could include bridging programs, job sharing, advocating for changes to EI eligibility, and other initiatives." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-20

  • Increase funding to agricultural emissions and environmental impact reduction programmes

    "Increase funding to the Agriculture Stewardship Program, Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program, and other initiatives to help reduce emissions and environmental impacts (e.g. precision agriculture, planting hedgerows)." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-20

  • Explore lease-to-own models, tax incentives for purchasing land collectively, and interest-free loans for new farmers
  • Create a demo project to explore adding solar panels to fields

    "Create an agri-voltaics demonstration project to explore the potential of combining farming with solar panels in the same field and create a new revenue stream for Island farmers." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-20

  • Make land ownership and purchases more transparent

    "In order for Islanders to have confidence that the Lands Protection Act is being properly enforced it is important for land ownership and purchases to be transparent. A Green Government will explore various avenues to increase transparency including:

    ● Releasing the report on the Brendel Farms land purchase.

    ● Giving IRAC the final decision on land purchases, instead of Cabinet, and increasing the transparency of IRAC’s decisions and investigations.

    ● Making the registry of deeds online and searchable.

    ● Introduce a Land Ownership Transparency Act, as was done in British Columbia." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-14

  • Classify agricultural and forestry land as resource land

    "Classify agricultural and forestry land as resource land to protect it from poorly planned development and keep farmland in production." — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-20

  • Create industry-specific employee support programmes and emergency management plans for extreme weather events

Liberal

  • Encourage expansion of livestock herds through price reassurances, low-interest government financing, and grants
  • Provide low-interest government financing for livestock farmers to build adequate fencing and enhance manure management
  • Ensure funding for farmers' access to 3 Phase power is included in any inter-provincial or federal infrastructure agreement

    "Supporting farmers in accessing 3 Phase power by ensuring access to funding is included in any future Infrastructure Agreement between the Province and the federal government" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Expand immigration recruitment
  • Review land limits under the Lands Protection Act every five years

    "Ensuring that land limits are reviewed every five years under the Lands Protection Act to ensure they reflect current ownership levels and market conditions" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Expand high school programming related to agriculture careers

    "Expanding high school programming, including the Agriculture in the Classroom initiative, in order to expose students to the range of career opportunities that agriculture offers" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Provide a seasonal worker benefits programme

    "Developing a seasonal worker benefits program to serve as a recruitment incentive for Islander working in seasonal sector to expand their time in the labour market" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Speed up initiatives for adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change on farms

    "Accelerating on-farm climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives that leverage federal/provincial funding and increase adoption of proven practices" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Expand the Buffer Zone Program and double payments to farmers to protect environmentally-sensitive land
  • Invest in water infrastructure where potato production is prevalent

    "Investing in water infrastructure in clusters where potato production is prevalent to help boost yields in years when rain is not adequate" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Provide incentives to encourage farmers generate renewable power and sell excess power back to Maritime Electric

    "Implementing a farm renewable energy program that provides incentives to help farmers develop renewable power generation capacity with the opportunity to sell excess power back to Maritime Electric" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

  • Create a province-wide approach to agricultural land

    "Developing a province-wide approach to agricultural land from a land-use planning perspective, given the importance of such land to the province as a whole" — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22

NDP

  • Protect and expand supply management

    "Protect and expand supply management, to ensure farmers are fairly compensated and able to cover production costs." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09

  • Create a new regenerative agricultural network

    "Create jobs for workers, opportunities for farmers and sustainability for PEI agriculture with a new Regenerative Agricultural Network." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09

  • Increase support for using organic and sustainable practices

Looking for the parties' positions on other topics?

See our full 2023 PEI election platform comparison