Local voices added to nationwide protest
In communities across the country on November 22, Canadians joined together to show their support for small farmers in Canada.
In Fort St. John, a convoy nearly two kilometers long wound its way from the Charlie Lake Boat Launch, through the city and around the By-Pass Roads a few times before gathering at Centennial Park for a rally and speeches in support of Canadian farmers.
As Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy said in a Facebook video following the event:
“Agriculture is the foundation to our country. Without agriculture, we don’t have food.”
“It’s absolutely important to me to see the farmers be supported and sustained in our country.”
Skylar Cobbett
One of the organizers, Skylar Cobbett, spoke to the broken typewriter at Saturday’s event, and said she got involved in organizing the event because she doesn’t want to see farms and the communities that go with it disappear, and she wanted to do something she feels passionate about: “which is change and change for the better in our country.”
“I don’t want to see that industry die,” she said. “I don’t want to see it turned into an industry that’s run by government. Instead of Big Pharma, it’ll be Big Farm – I don’t want to see that happen.”
As a mother of four young children, Cobbett said that “this is their legacy, and if they have nothing to look forward to, like owning a home or owning property that’s actually theirs, what am I doing this for? If I can’t set them up to have a future to look forward to, I feel like my legacy is a sad one.”
Cobbett grew up in a rural setting, her parents had a herd of 20-plus horses, and when she married, Cobbett and her husband became what she describes as self-sustaining farmers.
“We had horses, cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, goats, the whole thing. I milked my own cows, ate my pigs, ate my chickens, ate my own eggs.”
After a decade, it wasn’t possible to continue the farm without a second income, so they sold up.