Suspend AAFC research closures

AI summary

Petitioners say Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada plans to close seven federal research facilities across several provinces, end the Organic and Regenerative Research Program, and cut related staff. They assert these decisions were made without adequate analysis or consultation and that the cuts would irreparably harm public plant breeding, create irreplaceable research gaps (including long‑term and multi‑site studies), and weaken Canada’s competitiveness and food security. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to suspend AAFC staff terminations and continue operating the affected centres and program for at least 24 months to allow a cost‑benefit review and protect long‑term research; no government response is included in the petition.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Government of Canada The network of federal agricultural research facilities across the wide range of Canada’s growing conditions is essential to future farm and food system success; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) plans to close 7 research facilities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, and the Organic and Regenerative Research Program, and cut the employees and support staff required to carry out agricultural research at these facilities and elsewhere; Decisions were made without a) analyzing the value of research programs and facilities, b) consulting any farm organizations, facility or program managers, c) knowing what would be lost, or d) understanding the impact on farmers and agricultural economy; The cuts will irreparably harm public plant breeding, the foundation of Canada’s international success; The cuts will create critical gaps that cannot be relocated to other facilities or carried out at non-AAFC institutions including: scientific expertise; long-term studies, multi-stage variety development; multi-site variety registration data; organic and regenerative crop and livestock research; and The cuts will reduce Canada’s competitiveness, resilience and food security, increase reliance on foreign science and seed, increase costs, and waste decades of public and producer investment. We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to immediately suspend AAFC staff terminations and to continue operating the research centers, research farms and the Organic and Regenerative Research Program for at least 24 months to provide cost-benefit transparency and ensure irreplaceable research capacity and long-term studies are not lost due to hasty decision-making.

Government response

No government response is available yet.