Clearview farmer addresses senators about DND radar site
If we continue to treat farmland as abundant, it will erode our ability to produce sufficient food for our population, says Rachel Brooks, a Clearview Township farmer and co- founder of ROAR (Rural Owners Against Radar).
Brooks was recently invited to Ottawa to address the Senate Committee on farmland loss and the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Arctic Over the Horizon Radar (A-OTHR).
Brooks received a letter last July asking whether she was interested in selling her land to DND, in preparation for the establishment of a A-OTHR “receive” site.
“Farmland is seen as easily available and easy to repurpose,” she told the committee, “but this land is neither surplus nor replaceable. Thousands of acres of highly productive farmland are at risk of disappearing due to the DND’s Arctic Over the Horizon Radar Project.”
Farmland is a finite resource, according to Brooks, and at a time when Canadian farmers are working to increase domestic food supply 35-50 per cent by 2040, farmland is disappearing at the rate of 300 acres a day. She says, “Ontario has lost 20 per cent of its farmland in the last 50 years and if we continue on this trajectory, we are headed for food insecurity.”
Speaking on behalf of area farmers, Brooks says they are not opposed to national security, but are looking for some balance.
“This DND project should not be located on farmland,” she said. “There are two nearby [military] bases with 20,000-plus acres. Let’s not solve one problem by creating another.”
Brooks had three requests for the committee:
- Recognize agricultural land as a national asset.
- Require that federal decision making avoids prime farmland where alternatives exist.
- Ensure the voice of Canadian agriculture is included in land use discussions from the outset.
Brooks told The Echo she saw lots of nods of approval during her presentation and feels committee members showed genuine interest, not only in the DND project but in the preservation of agricultural lands in general.
Clearview councillor and fellow farmer Robert McArthur attended the presentation for moral support. He, too, felt Brooks’ message resonated, and he noted there is actually a provision for the senate to initiate legislation and present it to the House of Commons.
Brooks says she is hopeful that might happen, although she suspects it is likely to be a very long process. In the meantime, she says, the increased focus on preserving agricultural land can only help their cause.
