Kenton Rein was quoted in the article “Canadian Ag’s View of NAFTA” published by AgWeek.
Writes Jonathan Knutson: “The North American Free Trade Agreement is a big deal to US agriculturalists. NAFTA is even more important to their Canadian counterparts…. There is a particular concern in western Canadian agriculture that the ongoing dispute over dairy products will expand to include Canadian grains and pulses.”
Says Kenton: “As Canadians, we’ve benefitted from having a neighbour with a very large market.” And US agriculturalists generally support NAFTA as well.
The concern in western Canada, says Kenton, is that “when you open up a trade deal like this, everything goes on the table. Emotions can run high and everything becomes heightened.” This can possibly lead to actions that might otherwise not be taken.
However, says Kenton: “Agriculture’s time is coming. As food demands increase, there will be regional banding together of western US and western Canadian agricultural producers.”