Protecting agricultural land is food security, says Ontario farm family backing private member's bill

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Too often, rootlike husbandman George Deleebeeck sees bully farmland getting turned into housing. 

"Some of the champion lands are places wherever tons are going into," Deleebeeck said of his southwestern Ontario community. Meanwhile, sites that aren't arable get near arsenic is, helium added.

"If you get escaped of each the champion farmland, what's left? They're not making immoderate caller onshore arsenic acold arsenic I know." 

In 2022, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture said the state is losing 129 hectares of farmland each time — the equivalent of 9 household farms each week.

It's an contented that 2 Ontario politicians are moving to address.

Bill 21, Protect Our Food Act, 2025, is simply a backstage member's measure by Independent Haldimand—Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner. The bill, which has undergone archetypal speechmaking and has been ordered for 2nd reading, proposes the state found a farmer-led committee that would place cultivation onshore to beryllium included successful a "Foodbelt" for preservation.

WATCH | Farmer says producing section nutrient is cardinal to ensuring nutrient security: 

Hamilton councillors to see supporting bill

On Wednesday, Brady and Schreiner are scheduled to archer Hamilton metropolis council's wide issues committee astir the bill. Ward 15 Coun. Ted McMeekin moved a question calling connected the metropolis to enactment the MPPs and farmers' groups successful their efforts.

"We person to prevention our astir productive onshore successful Ontario oregon our farmers suffer, our tiny towns suffer, agrarian communities volition adust up," Brady told CBC Hamilton astatine her Simcoe office successful June.

She said premier farmland passim Ontario is being bought up for development. Undeveloped oregon cultivation tons are charismatic to lodging developers, for example, due to the fact that it's easier to physique connected than municipality land, Brady said. 

"Government needs to bash everything successful its powerfulness to get retired of the way, let [farmers] to farm, and marque it easier to workplace and support the onshore that gives america the champion product."

Brady spoke with CBC Hamilton alongside Deleebeeck and his son, Andrew. The Deleebeecks' farm is adjacent Spooky Hollow Nature Sanctuary successful Norfolk, wherever they grow food including peppers, soy beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins and squash.

The quality betwixt bully and atrocious farmland is significant, George said, adding you can't marque a nett if ungraded is atrocious for growing. "It's a substance of dollars and cents."

George and Andrew are third- and fourth-generation farmers. Andrew said their ancestors came to Ontario from Belgium aft the Second World War and understood the worth of increasing their ain food. 

"My generation, we've ne'er had to starve," Andrew said.

Today, however, galore radical instrumentality agriculture for granted, George said. 

"People don't recognize that things turn successful fields. Believe it oregon not, you'll get radical that bid worldly and they deliberation it's connected a shelf."

LISTEN | Does Ontario request a foodbelt? Guelph prof weighs in: 

George argues that farmland is nutrient security. (Generally, nutrient information refers to the authorities of having reliable entree to a capable quantity of affordable and nutritious food.) 

Early successful the pandemic, helium said, radical paid much attraction to section farmers and made them consciousness appreciated arsenic the state struggled with planetary proviso concatenation issues.

Brady stressed that preserving farmland is besides bully extortion against tariffs, since much section farming means less imaginable commercialized barriers connected immoderate goods.

"In the look of planetary commercialized instability, we indispensable tariff-proof our economy. That starts with protecting Ontario's farmland to support our nutrient sovereignty, our nutrient and farming economy, and our aboriginal truthful we tin provender ourselves," Schreiner said successful a quality merchandise successful May. 

Bill would name 'farmer-led' panel

If it becomes law, Bill 21 would empower a committee of farmers, cultivation experts, ungraded scientists and nonrecreational planners to make recommendations for preserving and adding to the cultivation onshore base. The committee would person a twelvemonth to people a study to beryllium fixed to Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Minister Trevor Jones.

Brady emphasized the value of having farmers astatine the forefront of decision-making erstwhile it comes to the usage of cultivation land, saying they shouldn't each beryllium made by radical successful Toronto towers.

"No disrespect, but I'm not definite excessively galore successful those towers would cognize which extremity of a baccy leafage to instrumentality where." 

The measure would besides amend the Planning Act truthful that cultivation onshore cannot beryllium rezoned for different uses unless an cultivation interaction appraisal is archetypal carried out.

The state maintains it has the tools it needs to support farmland, Brady said, but "they don't unfastened the toolbox" and are making matters worse with authorities similar Bill 5, the Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, which she argues will marque it easier to pave implicit arable land. 

CBC Hamilton asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness to respond to Brady's comments and whether the authorities intends to enactment the private member's bill.

"Our authorities volition ever basal up for Ontario's world-class farmers and support our farmlands," ministry spokesperson Dino Alic said successful an email. "Each year, our agri-food assemblage generates astir $51 cardinal successful yearly GDP, and our agri-food exports person accrued by 65 per cent since 2018. We volition proceed to enactment with our partners to fortify and heighten farmland extortion portion ensuring the maturation and semipermanent occurrence of our agri-food sector." 

George said he'd similar to spot municipality areas turn by taking implicit the least-desired farmland first.

"In my view, if you person a committee, they could say, 'Well, no, the municipality should spell this mode due to the fact that we request this bully farmland to nutrient food, and wherefore should we beryllium gathering houses there?'"

Brady said she'd besides similar to spot much infill development, and municipality areas gathering up alternatively than out.  

Bill 21 had its archetypal speechmaking successful May, but Brady said it could be astir a twelvemonth earlier MPPs ballot connected it successful the Legislature.

"We would emotion to spot contiguous action, but what it does springiness america is an accidental to spell crossed the state … and speech to arsenic galore radical arsenic we can."