Foothills MP John Barlow met with colleagues from Alberta to address the crisis facing farmers following a harvest cut short by adverse weather conditions.

In the riding of Foothills, wet weather and early snow has halted harvest with significant crop left in the fields. Others who had already swathed saw their crops taken away by strong winds.

“We’re committed to working with our provincial counterparts and the ministers of agriculture to ensure farmers make it through this crisis,” said Barlow in a Nov. 14 news release.

Barlow and his colleagues have committed to immediately act on the following measures:

• meet with Alberta government counterparts to collaborate on solutions to assist;

• demand that the Canadian government immediately complete the Business Risk Management Review promised two and a half years ago, as requested by industry and stakeholders;

• call on the national government to make agriculture relief programs more responsive to farmers in need and remove arbitrary boundaries in determining tax relief and benefits;

• call on the Canadian government to aggressively work to reopen the Chinese market for Canadian canola; and

• call on the Canadian government to halt its plan to impose the carbon tax in Alberta.

“This is a growing crisis that puts the stability and future of our agricultural sector at risk,” Barlow said. “The financial strain of this developing crisis could jeopardize the financial stability for many farm families and has the potential to impact the mental health of struggling farmers in our communities. The federal government must act quickly to respond to the real struggles of impacted farm families and in the short term could look at adjustments to the cash advance program.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s delay to appoint his cabinet creates even more uncertainty for our farmers, said Barlow.

“Parliament must be reconvened in the coming weeks to address this crisis and the pressing concerns of Canadians,” he said.

Farmers feeling the strain of this crisis or living with depression are encouraged to call the Mental Health Hotline 1-877-303-2642 or visit mymentalhealth.ca.