Where is Agriculture?

This past January, the Government of Canada announced its “Team Canada” missions to the U.S., to promote Canadian exports in advance of the upcoming renegotiation of the Canada – U.S. – Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, the former NAFTA). The missions to State legislatures and the United States government are a good thing, but something is lacking. I have heard little mention of cross-border trade in agriculture and food products when the “Team Canada” missions are discussed.   Our federal government talks about securing trade vital to national security, but for some reason agriculture and food seem not to be included in the national security bucket. This is despite the fact that agriculture and food is one of our largest export sectors, accounting for about $60 billion in exports to the U.S. annually.  Canada is an exporting nation and Manitoba is an exporting province. For example, 90 percent of the eight million pigs raised in Manitoba every year are exported, either as packages of pork sh