Former Canadian Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz says that Trudeau’s nitrogen policies are naïve and “petulant.”

Earlier this week, Ritz appeared on Fox News, where host Tucker Carlson asked Ritz a pointed question.

“If Trudeau does this, what will happen to Canadian agriculture?” Carlson asked.

“Well, I think Trudeau’s banning fertilizer to that degree because he spreads enough himself. At the end of the day, this is his petulance coming through in response to the trucker convoy that took over his home city for about three weeks last winter and then there [have] been other trucker rallies in support of what’s happening around the world,” Ritz said.

Carlson then referenced the agriculture policies of Mao Zedong, which resulted in the needless death of tens of millions of Chinese people.

“I don’t think [Trudeau] realizes the rabbit hole he’s gone down and who he’s pulling in with him,” Ritz responded. “At the end of the day, Canada’s production is already as environmentally friendly as you can possibly get. Can you do more – we always will. At the end of the day, there’s no recognition of that environmental stewardship that our farmers already do.”

Ritz further named off various environmentally friendly methods Canadian farms have adopted, such as cutting fertilizer, timed fertilizer usage, and agronomy professionals’ involvement with modern technology to maximize production. 

“And there’s more to come. We just had a big Ag show here in Saskatchewan… and it was all about technology.” 

“…So for him to go to this extent, he is not looking at the big picture at all.” 

As for the nitrogen policy being critiqued, in December 2020, the Trudeau government unveiled their new climate plan, with a focus on reducing nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.

However, Fertilizer Canada doesn’t believe that forcibly decreasing fertilizer use will even lower greenhouse gases, stating that carbon leakage elsewhere could be the result.

Nonetheless, the Trudeau Liberals are moving forward, with farmer’s groups now wondering if he’s intentionally trying to cause a food shortage — for which Trudeau previously told Canadians to prepare.

“This is going to be a difficult time,” Trudeau said, “because of the war, because of the recovery from the pandemic. And Canadians will do what we always do: we’ll be there for each other.”

Indeed, it looks like Ritz might have forgotten the power of love and friendship in the face of nationwide starvation.