Blue country, red cities

Monday’s federal election painted much of BC blue, with the exception being coastal ridings and the southern Interior riding of South Okanagan-West Kootenay.

Of the 42 ridings in the province, 17 went to the Conservatives under Andrew Scheer. Those ridings represent a predominantly rural populace. Eleven ridings voted in NDP candidates, including those on Vancouver Island (except for two that voted Green) and those along the coast from Powell River to Alaska. The remaining 11 went to the incumbent Liberals, which maintain their concentration in Metro Vancouver.

Whether or not it matters for BC farmers is another question.

On the one hand, they won’t have any representation in caucus.

Jati Sidhu, for example, who had represented the government at agriculture events in the Fraser Valley, lost the seat of Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon to Conservative candidate Brad Vis. The onus will fall now on returning Delta MP Carla Qualtrough to carry the government flag to Fraser Valley farms.

However, the minority government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will face a stronger opposition as it seeks to ratify agreements such as the new free trade deal with the US and greater pressure to do something on behalf of farmers hit hard by tariffs and non-tariff barriers that have closed markets such as China. It also has ambitious plans for remaking federal farm lender Farm Credit Canada as the $5-billion financier Farm and Food Development Canada and rolling out a national food policy.

When she visited Vancouver this past summer on a pre-election tour to launch the food policy, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau looked forward to the government continuing its work on behalf of farmers after the election.

“We want to keep doing that in November,” she told Country Life in BC, she said, noting the food policy in particular. “We see full support and we are committed to deliver what we presented in the recent weeks.”

Bibeau and global affairs minister Chrystia Freeland, whose portfolio includes international relations and trade, were both re-elected this week.

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6 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.