Links with other high growth sectors are crucial. OTTAWA – Agrifood leaders want the federal government to remove roadblocks to beefing up the economic clout of their and other high-growth sectors to boost the economy.The challenge is to keep the government departments focused on clearing away obstructions to growth and competitiveness identified in the reports from Agri-Food Strategy Table and five other industry-led tables established under the government's innovation agenda, they say.Ron Bonnet, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said the agrifood strategy report clarified “key measures that will leverage the sector's immense potential, in both domestic and international markets.“We have long supported the call for a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to navigate the intense competitive pressures our sector faces,” he said. “The key themes in the report reflect the issues we hear from farmers and their value chain partners, while articulating clear directions where industry and government can work together.“CFA looks forward to working with our value chain partners and government to interpret the recommendations contained within this report, and to identify clear plans of action to see these barriers to growth addressed.”Carla Ventin, Senior Vice-President of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said the report “provides an important roadmap to improve the competitiveness of the agrifood sector in Canada and strategically position us as a global leader. We support this critical initiative for its whole-of-government approach to help secure industry's position as the most competitive, innovative and trusted agrifood supplier in the world.The sector faces intense competitive pressures in global and domestic markets as well as action by the U.S. to repatriate manufacturing, she said. “At home, food manufacturers continue to face challenges with rising costs and a growing cumulative regulatory burden as new regulations are introduced at an accelerated rate.”Chris White, President of the Canadian Meat Council, said his organization supports the report's recommendations for a coordinated, industry-government approach to an updated regulatory system that promotes competitiveness, a focus on developing and diversifying Canada's agri-food markets, investment in innovation, and a diverse, skilled labour force.“The current regulatory system restricts our industry's ability to innovate and compete. These recommendations will help pave the way for Canada to become more competitive on a global scale. By including innovation, growth and competitiveness as key considerations, regulations will be more flexible and allow the industry to adapt easier to change.”Don Buckingham, President of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, said what comes next in terms of actions by government on the recommendations of the strategy table reports, which covered advanced manufacturing, clean technology, health and biosciences, resources and digital technology, is crucial. “What is Phase 2 of this process going to be?”Links need to be established among the strategy tables and their members so their proposals aren't considered in isolation, he said. “The ideas will have to be pushed forward. What we don't know is the process for doing that.”Among the obvious shared-interest tables for agrifood are clean technology and advanced manufacturing but the other ones need to be considered as well, he said. “There are a lot of synergies that need to be brought to the fore.”Bonnet said the six reports “identified the competitiveness challenges to the entire Canadian economy. Canada's global brand, regulatory framework, infrastructure, technology adoption and labour are all critical issues for our sector, and we believe a whole-of-government commitment to addressing these issues and 'owning the podium' will bear fruit for Canadian agrifood and the broader Canadian economy.”FCPC backs a recommendation from the advanced manufacturing table for an immediate 100 per cent capital cost allowance, developing highly skilled talent, supporting the adoption of new technology and scaling up high-potential firms, she said.“Strong leadership and collaboration between government and industry are needed to improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Canada,” she said. “We look forward to working in partnership with the government and other stakeholders to help implement all of the recommendations outlined by the Economic Strategy Tables in a timely manner.”White said that by focusing on strategic improvements for making regulations nimbler, allowing industry more input, and working towards a partnership approach between industry and the whole of government, this will move the sector closer towards those ambitious goals, he said. His Council “will keep working with government partners to improve the system and grow the sector.”Buckingham said the reports have created a momentum that is crucial to maintain. “There's a lot of connectivity with the reports from the other tables.”He said simply focusing on the role of technology to improve the agrifood sector opens up many possibilities such as what changes in fertilizer technology could mean for both food production. “They can change the economic growth of agriculture.”The agrifood report calls on the government to aim for $85 billion in food exports annually by 2025 and $140 billion in domestic sales compared to the $110 billion in 2017.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.