Whether it’s opening new international markets, cutting red tape or tapping into renewable energy, Foothills candidates see opportunities to grow the riding’s agricultural sector.
In the wake of a major new international trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Conservative candidate John Barlow said his party would continue to seek new agreements to open markets for agricultural products.
“When we came into government in 2006 we had about six free-trade agreements globally, now we have more than 40,” he said.
In order to access global markets, Barlow said farmers and agribusinesses need high-speed internet service. He said the Connecting Canadians program, lead by the Conservative party, will help to bring broadband internet services to 300,000 rural Canadians by 2017.
NDP candidate Alison Thompson said small companies are major job creators and her party’s tax plans will support small businesses, including those in the agricultural sector.
“We don’t need one plant, we need many small entrepreneurial people who will then create the small businesses and create those jobs,” she said.
She defended her party’s tax plans. While the NDP has committed to raise corporate income taxes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, she said it will lower small business taxes from 11 per cent to nine per cent.
Thompson and other candidate say there are opportunities to use new technologies to make agricultural operations more energy efficient and open new sources of income.
She said ranchers or farmers with larger land holdings could locate solar energy farms on their property to supplement their incomes.
“They can have more on their land, they can have solar farms like they have in Ontario, they can have wind farms, they can have geothermal wells,” she said.
Green Party candidate Romy Tittel said producers could use new technologies and partner together to make their operations more efficient.
“Have some synergies with a pork producer who creates a lot of excess heat, it can be piped into a neighbouring greenhouse and then they can grow crops you can grow in California or Mexico,” said Green Party candidate Romy Tittel.
Liberal party candidate Tanya MacPherson said the Foothills riding could be an energy powerhouse with plentiful wind and solar energy. She said this could be an opportunity for farmers and landowners to get additional income sources.
“Farmers might be able to participate in that by having agreements with renewable energy companies,” she said.
Libertarian party candidate Cory Morgan said his party would reduce unnecessary government regulations to help smaller agri-businesses. As well, he said the federal government should eliminate barriers to interprovincial trade within Canada.
