One of the key priorities for the Green Party is climate change.

In speaking about their agricultural platform, Kate Storey says we need to see the whole economy become more sustainable.

“We want to bring more people back into agriculture by encouraging regenerative and organic farming and supporting medium and smaller farming. Regenerative agriculture reduces greenhouse gases which of course makes climate change. The smaller farms of course help our communities and fix our farm labour problems. We’ll reduce farming costs because the regenerative farming that we’re suggesting reduces the need for fertilizer or pesticide.”

Storey notes they also want to protect the right of farmers to save their own seed and reduce farm machinery repair costs by implementing Right to Repair Legislation.

She says the Green Party wants to see sustainable and fair trade.

“Canadian farmers are great producers but we can’t win at cheap commodities because we have winter. So we really need to shift our trade focus toward what we do best which is quality.”

Storey says the Green Party also want to address the high price of land, keeping land speculators out and move from Business Risk Management Programs to Disaster Assistance programs.

In speaking about the party’s agricultural platform, Storey says, they really don’t like the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.

“We understand that farms need those workers, those seasonal workers, but we think there’s a much more fair way of going about that. We would like the people, the immigrants that come in to be actual immigrants for residence. Understanding that they have to work seasonally and find other occupations for them for the rest of the year, and stop shipping them back and forth between here and Mexico or wherever they're coming from.”

She notes food security is also a key issue for the Green Party, adding they encourage Canadians to think local, buy local and would like to see a Buy Canada Program.