By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
It was an early start Wednesday in Hamilton as I again joined forces with my colleague MPP Mike Schreiner (Green Party) to promote our Foodbelt Legislation, Bill 21, Protect our Food Act, 2025.
You may recall, MPP Schreiner and I jointly introduced Bill 21 recently at Queen’s Park, a Bill we both feel is non-partisan. The Bill would protect agricultural land to ensure food security into the future. It would make it harder for designated farmland to be re-zoned, and it would ensure farmers and policy makers have a firm understanding of soil classes. When farmers and policy makers better understand where our class one soils are, they can make informed decisions about crop selection, conservation efforts, and of course, land management.
We began the day at 7:30am in the CHCH-TV make-up chairs to prep for an interview with Norfolk County native Annette Hamm who grew up near Langton. Schreiner and I then headed to Hamilton City Hall where we met OFA President Drew Spoelstra and proceeded to state our case to the General Issues Committee.
A motion introduced by Councillor Ted McMeekin unanimously passed and formalizes the City’s support for Bill 21 to the provincial government and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Together we emphasized the urgency of protecting farmland as Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland every day–the equivalent of losing 9 family farms each week. This is significant considering Ontario farmers grow more than 200 different crops and the sector contributes over $50 billion to the provincial economy and employs nearly 1 million people.
You might question why Hamilton would be interested in Bill 21; but it’s interesting to note much of the boundary of today’s Hamilton is actually farmland. City leaders acknowledged endorsing the motion aligns with the city’s efforts to build more homes without paving over their farmland. (Forget your stereotypical image of The Hammer… about 73 percent of Hamilton is rural. In fact, there are about 810 farms across the city of Hamilton, around 118 thousand acres of cultivation.)
In the face of a trade war, we should strive to grow as much as possible domestically. We all have to eat, and as I discussed on CHCH, across the province we see degradation and misuse of farmland. Take, for example, Wilmot Township, where 700 acres of farmland will come out of production to create a ‘shovel-ready’ site for future industrial development.
In Ontario, 97 per cent of our farms are family-owned and operated. Along with protecting the land, we must treat our farm families with respect and give them the tools to thrive. Bill 21 will indeed protect productive lands for future generations, but I want to be clear that it will also respect farmers who want to create succession plans and reinvest in their farms.
On the legislative front, Schreiner, Spoelstra and I are all concerned Bill 5 could be another threat to Ontario farmland.
Much of Ontario’s farmland sits beyond The Greenbelt and it too needs protection. Bill 21’s concept of a food belt to augment The Greenbelt and ensure we are protecting agricultural lands across Ontario is critical. President Spoelstra reminded us that five percent of Ontario land is arable and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
My hope is other municipalities will be inspired to support Bill 21 by Hamilton Council and Councillor Ted McMeekin. The Bill will come up for second reading in the Ontario Legislature some time in 2026. Meanwhile, this Hamilton sojourn is only the first of my field trips to save arable farmland.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that Bill 21 is just one step we can take to ensure long-term food security – we must invest in increasing processing capacity across many sectors and do better in creating an economic environment for young people to enter the field.
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk