HALDIMAND-NORFOLK—While MPP Bobbi Ann Brady continues to promote her Private Member’s Bill 21 – the Protect Our Food Act – in partnership with Green Party Leader and MPP Mike Schreiner, some area constituents are raising concerns.
Frank Schonberger, a Norfolk farmer and member of the Haldimand Norfolk PC Riding Association, believes Bill 21 as presented would create economic hardship for small, rural counties like Norfolk and Haldimand by creating excess red tape and imposing “costly agriculture impact assessments for businesses and farm operations attempting to expand or diversify to maintain viability.”
Schonberger presented his concerns to Norfolk Council on February 10, 2026.
“(Schreiner and Brady) are trying to convince municipal leaders that Ontario is losing 319 acres every day to development,” said Schonberger.
This statistic was presented in a 2022 article by Ontario Farmland Trust citing Statistics Canada (StatsCan) censuses, which showed Ontario decreased from 12,348,463 acres of farmland in 2016 to 11,766,071 acres in 2021 – an average of 319 acres a day. The article also stated that the number of farms reporting to the census had decreased by over 1,000 in that time.
“There is no argument that some farmland is lost to development, however, what they are presenting is a false narrative. There is a significant difference in reported farmland area between StatsCan and Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) data, which shows an increase in taxable farmland,” said Schonberger. “MPAC data defines total farmland as all farmland assessed for tax purposes, even if the land is not actively farmed.”
He noted the downsizing of the tobacco industry in Norfolk, with thousands of farmland acres purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada or donated to the Long Point Basin Land Trust across the county.
Using StatsCan censuses, he suggested the number of Norfolk farmland acres given over to such groups is 500% higher than the approximately 1,500-2,000 acres that may have been used for urban development in the county over the same period of time.
“On average, 200-300 acres per year is being permanently set aside for conservation in Norfolk,” he said. “Much of this land is removed from the StatsCan census on agriculture.”
Schonberger added that when investors buy and lease farmland and fields back to farmers, they only report the acreage rented for crop production to StatsCan.
His research, submitted to The Press, highlighted the total difference in 2021, where StatsCan reported a total farm area in Ontario of 3,865,918 acres, while MPAC listed a total farm land area (excluding managed forests) of 4,114,455 acres, a difference of 291,740 acres.
“It is extremely important to note that acres for the production of all crops have increased in Ontario and across Canada according to StatsCan,” he said.
Schonberger encouraged Norfolk Council and staff to review a 2021 study from the University of Guelph called ‘Measuring Farmland Loss: Quantifying the Conversion of Prime Agricultural Land to Non-Farmland Uses Across Southern Ontario’.
“It concludes that due to official plan amendments for the period of 2000 to 2017, there was approximately 30,000 hectares of farmland loss in their study area. That is about 12 acres of farmland per day in the most urban populated regions of Ontario, not 319,” said Schonberger.
Schonberger said a measured amount of growth in rural Ontario is “paramount for our communities to remain viable…. A foodbelt designation will not solve any of the problems facing agriculture and may cause harm to rural communities.”
Schonberger urged Norfolk Council to consider passing a motion to forward his information to other municipalities and municipal organizations.
Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin responded, “I happen to find your information very interesting and compelling,” asking Schonberger to list the competing factors for farmland beyond development.
Schonberger said that land acquired by conservation groups and land trusts remove “total farmland area, fence row to fence row. That includes woodlots, wetlands, fields, etc. It’s not only crop land we’re talking about.”
Meanwhile, on land acquired by investment companies and rented back to farmers, “only the crop land on those farms is recorded by StatsCan,” said Schonberger. “The woodlots, wetlands, and other areas will go unreported.”
He said non-farm residents are also purchasing small parcels, around 50 acres with 25-30 acres of workable farmland, and “either rent out the field part to a farm operator or else they plant the entire property with trees so they can qualify under the managed forest tax class.”
Similarly, he added, “Retired farmers also like to live on their farm as they get older and rent the farm out. All of a sudden, they may have 50 acres of bush that’s no longer reported in StatsCan.”
Martin shared a belief that “proponents suggesting that Norfolk County should be a food belt preserved – I can only assume that the intent behind that would be to stop development and save all of the farmland, which is certainly admirable to want to put a bubble around Norfolk County and stay the way we are.”
“We all love our community … however I can only imagine the far-reaching impacts that would have on the taxpayer, on economic development, on infrastructure, and so on, when we can’t even afford what we have now, let alone into the future,” she continued.
Martin made a motion requesting a staff report on the data.
“What I’m looking for is a comprehensive document that is going to outline the status of agricultural lands across Norfolk County that can touch on loss versus gains of lands, the tax ratio collection of those lands, and if staff have any comments on a food belt designation and what those impacts would be to Norfolk County in the future,” said Martin.
Brady responded to the deputation in an interview with The Press.
“My first reaction is I hope Senator Rob Black sees this and the 150 expert witnesses who penned the senate report titled ‘Critical Ground’, and I would ask Mr. Schonberger why he is more of an expert witness than any of those folks,” said Brady.
That report, released by the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in June 2024, warned that Canadian soil faced degradation risks from climate change, urbanization, and other pressures that jeopardize food security. It listed 25 recommendations to the federal government, including recognizing soil as a strategic national asset.
Brady argued that neither she nor Schreiner routinely use the ‘319 acres a day to development’ statistic highlighted by Schonberger in his presentation.
“We say we are losing acreage to things like aggregate mining, things like urban sprawl, and yes indeed, things like development,” said Brady, indicating she and Schreiner could “make swiss cheese” out of Schonberger’s presentation. “We’d be happy to … if Norfolk County Council actually wanted to talk to the people who penned Bill 21.”
She continued, “Perhaps we are not losing farmland at the same pace here in Norfolk County as we are across Ontario, but that land is being lost, whether it’s 319 acres, whether it’s 275, whatever the number is that Mr. Schonberger would like us to use, the fact of the matter is we are losing prime land in this province.”
While Brady acknowledged StatsCan’s census numbers “aren’t perfect,” she said she prefers them to MPAC’s data, characterizing MPAC as “often incorrect.”
She also argued against Schonberger’s assertion that Bill 21 would generate more red tape for farmers.
“I find that hilarious because that is completely speculative,” said Brady. “In fact, this bill is farmer-led and would give farmers the ability to have more say about what they want to do with their farm for succession planning.”
“I could be wrong, but I think this is an attempt by the local PC Association to try and discredit the work of their independent MPP,” concluded Brady. “The majority of farmers I know, they want to farm. They don’t want to be in the development business.”
