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By Alice McFarlane

SARM officials travel to Ottawa

SARM meets with federal officials on tariffs, pest control

Oct 29, 2025 | 2:35 PM

Representatives from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) spent some time in Ottawa last week discussing issues of importance to agricultural sectors.

Bill Huber said they talked to several Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers about canola tariffs. Huber said not one shipment of new crop has been sent to China to date.

He was encouraged to hear that Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath McDonald was in China this week.

“We had the opportunity to meet with Minister MacDonald. We also talked to (Parliamentary Secretary) Kody Blois who encouraged us. We support his thoughts on this that we can’t expect these tariffs to just disappear,” Huber said. “We can’t expect Canada to sign off on these tariffs because of fear of retaliation from the American president and every day is a new day in the tariff war with the U.S. We’ve got to be careful how that is dealt with.”

Huber commended Blois, Prime Minister Carney and Premier Scott Moe for their work on the tariff issue.

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“It’s a touchy situation, and they can’t just get rid of them instantly because of fear of pushback from the Americans and other countries,” he said.

SARM has been asking the federal government to reinstate the use of strychnine to control the population of Richardson Ground Squirrels. Huber said there has been some progress on that file.

“We got a commitment from the Federal Agriculture Minister relayed to us from MP Steven Bonk. He said that they will go ahead with legislation to reintroduce the use of strychnine on an emergency basis, providing the provincial government, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the municipalities participate in that program. It’s in the early stages of planning,” Huber said.

Huber said it’s a fight they’ve been working on for a number of years.

“I think it’s a win for us,” he said.

The Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project, bail reform, policing and gun registration were other issues talked about between SARM and government officials. Hubert described the meetings as positive.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com