By Laureen Heisler | NationalCitizensInquiry.ca

On March 9–11, 2026, the National Citizens Inquiry held public hearings in Kelowna, British Columbia, on the question, “Are Farmers Safe in Canada?” During the three days, farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, breeders, lawyers, and other agricultural professionals provided sworn testimony about the realities they face in Canada’s agricultural sector. What emerged was a clear and consistent message: a critical sector of society is in significant distress.

Across commodities and regions, farmers described being squeezed financially, operationally, and psychologically. For many, farming is no longer a viable livelihood but a constant calculation of risk—how long they can hold on, and at what cost. This is not a future concern; this is already happening.

Testimony revealed a regulatory system disconnected from the realities of farming. Policies are complex and often impractical, written far from the fields, barns, and pastures they govern. Farmers are expected to comply, absorb the cost, and adapt, regardless of whether those policies function in practice. There is little meaningful input before rules are imposed, and little flexibility once they are.

Killing on Suspicion

Some of the most disturbing testimony revealed that under the Health of Animals Act, the Minister of Agriculture has the authority to set the regulatory framework for disease control. The Act permits a range of measures, including quarantine, testing, and other controls, such as culling. Farmers described how this authority is exercised in practice and the consequences that follow. Entire flocks or herds are being destroyed not because every animal is confirmed sick, but due to “suspected” exposure.

Farmers explained that animals are ordered killed without confirmed infection. Decisions are often based on modelling, proximity, or suspicion, with little opportunity for verification. Healthy animals are culled alongside suspected cases. Since the year 2000, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has carried out mass livestock culling, which in recent years has occurred on a near-weekly basis in Canada. Hundreds of thousands of birds, cattle, pigs, deer, and more have been destroyed.

Testimony also indicated that once a cull order is issued, efforts to confirm infection are refused or prohibited. One of the most disturbing accounts came from a Kelowna lawyer, who stated that the CFIA can enter a farm and order the slaughter of livestock based solely on “suspicion,” leaving farmers with no meaningful recourse once that decision is made. A sentiment expressed repeatedly during the hearings was: “What they are doing doesn’t make sense.”

For farmers, this is devastation in practice. Years, sometimes decades, of breeding are erased in a matter of days. Animals are lost en masse.

Further testimony drew a stark contrast between the United Kingdom’s prompt compensation for culled livestock and Canada’s often delayed payments, which, when they arrive, fail to reflect what has been lost. Farmers described being expected to absorb these losses and continue, while those who resist faced pressure, threats, or punitive consequences.

Witnesses further emphasized that, rather than prioritizing preventing diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease from entering Canada, the government’s focus is on enforcing measures that place the burden squarely on farmers.

Beyond disease control policies, testimony also revealed broader systemic pressures within modern agriculture.

Glyphosate: A System Built on Chemicals

Testimony on glyphosate revealed growing tension. Farmers rely on it; many feel they have little choice. It is embedded in modern agriculture, tied to efficiency, yields, and survival. Yet concerns persist about long-term health effects, residues in food, soil degradation, and the absence of truly independent research. Farmers are navigating a system built on chemical dependency while grappling with the uncertainty of its long-term consequences. This raises an important question: if the system itself is uncertain, what does that mean for the safety of the food it produces?

Supply Management and the Cost to Dairy Farmers

Testimony addressed Canada’s supply management system and its impact on dairy farmers. Strict production quotas limit how much milk can be produced, regardless of demand. This can lead to dumping when production exceeds quota limits. It was noted that this excess milk could be directed to those in need or exported rather than discarded. Some witnesses stated that Canadian dairy farmers receive less for their product than their counterparts in the United States, despite operating under tighter controls.

ALR Removal and Risk to Adjacent Farms

One witness raised concerns about land removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), including a neighbouring property that had once been protected. After its removal, construction materials, including drywall, were dumped on the land. This raised concerns about contaminants leaching into surrounding farmland and impacting soil, crops, and long-term viability. “What gets dumped there doesn’t stay there.”

Farmers Are Not Being Heard

One farmer, a livestock consultant with decades of experience and extensive expertise in animal nutrition, who has worked in agricultural education and advised governments, described a breakdown in how information is handled. Farmers provide input to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, which prepares reports intended to reflect their concerns. However, his testimony stated that these reports are altered by the CFIA before release, reshaped to align with government messaging. In practice, this amounts to disinformation. The public receives a version that no longer reflects what farmers reported.

The government is not working for the benefit of farmers but rather to control both the narrative and the people. In effect, farmers are not being heard, and the public is being misled. The witness described this as a captured system.

A System That Treats Farmers as Disposable

A deeper pattern emerged: farmers are not treated as partners in the food system but as operators within it, expected to comply, absorb losses, and continue. Decisions are made with little transparency, and accountability is limited when those decisions cause irreversible harm. There is little room to question or challenge what is imposed.

Witnesses exposed a system far less resilient than it appears. Processing is centralized. Access is constrained. Small producers are pushed out. When disruption occurs, few alternatives remain. Dependence replaces resilience.

Farmers described stress, burnout, financial pressure, and the emotional toll of losing animals and livelihoods. This is about whether the people who produce the country’s food can continue to do so. We heard testimony about farmers who, in response to the mass culling of their livestock, took their own lives out of desperation.

Testimony also revealed that younger generations are increasingly hesitant to enter farming because of mounting uncertainty.

The clearest message was this: farmers are increasingly excluded from the decisions that shape their future. Policies are developed without their input. Decisions are imposed on them. Their lived experience is dismissed. The Kelowna hearings provided something rare—a space where they could speak under oath and be heard.

A few farmers who were scheduled to testify and awaiting government compensation for the culling of their livestock or flocks withdrew after being contacted by the CFIA, including one at the last minute. Several others wanted to testify but feared potential repercussions. This creates a chilling effect on participation, in which fear silences individuals and prevents them from speaking openly.

Are Farmers Safe in Canada?

After three days of testimony, the answer is NO. Farmers operate in a system where their economic survival is uncertain, their autonomy is steadily eroded, their animals can be destroyed without confirmed disease or fair compensation, and their voices are shut out of the decisions that determine their future. If safety means stability, fairness, and the ability to sustain a livelihood, this system fails.

If these conditions continue, the consequences will not be confined to farms. Food production will decline, dependence on external supply will increase, and Canada’s ability to sustain its population will weaken. This is not a distant risk; it is already unfolding.

If the people who produce our food are not protected, not heard, and not supported, this is no longer just a farming issue. It is a national issue.

If farmers are not safe, we are not safe.

Watch the hearings at nationalcitizensinquiry.ca/kelowna-2026 or rumble.com/user/ncicanada

The National Citizens Inquiry is independent, citizen-led, citizen-funded, and non-partisan. It exists to preserve sworn citizen testimony under oath as part of the public record. Truth matters.