Misinformation ruins the conversation on fertilizer policy, MPs say

Widespread misinformation about Canada’s voluntary fertilizer reduction scheme makes it difficult to have a rational discussion on this critical issue, say Green and NDP MPs.

Conservative politicians, the fossil fuel lobby and right-wing groups spread conspiracy theories and misinformation online about the federal government’s fertilizer cut plans, according to research by Canadian National Observer revealed earlier this week.

“If we allow misinformation and conservative rhetoric to embed the farming community into a mindset that thinks climate action is against their interests, when climate action is completely [in] their interest, then we have set things up very, very poorly for a transition that needs to happen to more local food, more organic food, more multi-cropping farms…” said Green MP Elizabeth May. Canadian National Observer In an interview.

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, is among those publishing misleading information. in a video Posted on Facebook on September 16, Poilievre said the federal government’s “proposed fertilizer cuts” will drive up food prices and hurt farmers. This sentiment is echoed in much of the misinformation circulating on social media and is even echoed in the House of Commons.

This is yet another example of the so-called “rage farming” that seems to permeate Canadian politics these days where, to score political points, politicians are trying to stir the pot to push conversation about something, said Alistair, agriculture critic of the NDP. MacGregor. “What’s missing from this conversation is the fact that there are farmers who are actually leading the way and adopting practices that lead to lower fertilizer use.”

On September 27, Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk told the House of Commons that “meaningless policies like the Liberal plan to limit fertilizer use damage farming operations and endanger food security globally” and in the country. It is important to note that the federal government’s proposal is voluntary and is intended to encourage reductions. There are no forced reductions or caps.

“We really need to discover the future of agriculture and the future of food through a climate lens,” May said. “The current debate is obviously taking us in the wrong direction because it alienates people and entrenches different camps around climate and food.”

Disinformation like this can be “corrosive” to civil discourse, making it almost impossible to have rational conversations, MacGregor said. Canadian National Observer.

“It’s really hard to have a conversation or a debate with someone when you’re not even occupying the same factual space,” MacGregor said. However, “the conversation about fertilizers that is taking place on social media and in some parts of the House of Commons… does not reflect the kind of conversations that we usually have in committee.”

May says the issue is “being deliberately mishandled by Conservatives and inadvertently by Liberals.” She says the federal government hasn’t figured out how to embrace the farming community by creating financial incentives for carbon sequestration, low-tillage and zero-tillage farming.

“Rage farming” harms Canada’s civil discourse on fertilizer policy, MPs say. #cdnpoli

This summer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada approved an increase from $500 million to $2.5 billion in agricultural subsidies for provinces and territories for five years.

Misinformation around fertilizers is a small example of a much larger problem, May said, pointing to a Abacus Data Survey in June that found that 44 per cent of 1,500 Canadians surveyed believe “big events like wars, recessions and election results are controlled by small groups of people secretly working against us.” The survey was conducted between May 20 and 24.

Both May and MacGregor, who is also a public safety critic of the NDP, blame social media algorithms in part.

Because social media companies profit from interactions in the form of clicks, shares, or likes, hot topics that irritate people drive engagement and “the algorithms feed on it,” leading to people into rabbit holes of misinformation, MacGregor said.

“Not everyone takes the time to verify whether or not the information is actually true, and that certainly makes our job as parliamentarians that much more difficult,” he added. “Over the last year, my constituency staff and I have spent much more time than we used to trying to counter statements, which are absolutely false as to the facts.”

To tackle disinformation in general, May says the government needs to “clean up” social media sites and expand media literacy education, particularly when it comes to far-right “news” websites.

He stressed that censorship is not the right route, but rather ensuring that sites that publish as news publications are held accountable for the content they publish.

Poilievre’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment on the issue of fertilizer misinformation.

— With files from Marc Fawcett Atkinson

Natasha Bulowski / Local Journalism Initiative / Canadian National Observer

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