The prime minister’s economic advisory council wants Canada to turn its attention to key sectors for growth, and while not prescribing sectors per se — well, they really are — the group has set before us a list of eight “potential candidates.”

We haven’t been holding our breath. That agriculture and food tops the list comes as no surprise. Council leader Dominic Barton tipped has hand toward this sector last autumn when, he said, the group was working at whittling the sectors to a manageable number. And what are we if not a country of vast tracts of arable land and waving fields of wheat?

The council has set what Al Mussell, the research lead for Agri-Food Economic Systems, calls stretch targets. They are that, proposing that Canada can be pushed to second place from fifth in agriculture exports and fifth place from eleventh in agri-food exports. “We are positioned better than most to do this, given our resource endowment, but they are aggressive targets,” Mussell says.

Read more: Economic advisory council delivers Bill Morneau an odd report: Walkom

Worry sets in when the council touts Holland as an exemplar of what Canada can hope to be. Holland is the world’s second-largest exporter of agri-food products and agricultural products. (The council report says Holland ranks third in both categories. I’m taking my data from the 2016 “Holland Compared” report, which uses World Trade Organization data measured globally across numerous metrics. While the council cites the WTO as its data source, their statistics are taken from the United Nations Comtrade data base.)

If we’re going to use the Netherlands as a benchmark, it’s worth pointing out a few distinguishing facts. Tulips come to mind, or more broadly the fact that the Netherlands is the world leader in horticulture, which comprises the largest single share of the country’s agricultural exports. The ports of Rotterdam and Schiphol boost the country’s numbers due to the re-exporting of foods that are imported, reprocessed and shipped out again. And the council’s numbers appear strangely anemic in one regard: The Netherlands’ “sales of poultry, red meat, bakery goods, and cheese products total €2.3 billion,” the report states, “80 percent of which is exported.” This doesn’t square. According to the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, cheese exports alone surpass that figure. Meat exports exceed €8 billion, though that includes pork.

Perhaps these details seem overly picayune. But the council has set the audacious goal of doubling Canada’s global market share in agri-food exports in a ten-year time frame, an increase of $19 billion.

To aid in this it suggests the creation of an Agfood Growth Council, pulled from the private sector. “Members would be champions, passionate about unleashing their sector’s growth potential,” the report states. The council would be “comprised of 10-15 visionary, high-profile and respected leaders from the private sector.”

I think this sounds about 50 years out of date.

Canada, remember, is losing traction when measured by global competitiveness. The most recent figures from the World Economic Forum dropped Canada by two places, to 15th. The Netherlands rose from the 5th spot to number 4.

So the agri-food council, if such a thing is created, needs to be a hot mix of R&D types and farmers in the field and, yes, government and private sector too.

The Barton group does see the importance of “hubs.” This is good. And the Netherlands does serve as an example of how far up the ladder we need to climb. Wageningen University and Research Centre consistently ranks as the world’s top agriculture university on the QS world university ranking. (The University of British Columbia tied for 15th spot with Penn State. Guelph is number 24.)

Wageningen anchors Food Valley, an agri-food cluster that boasts the world’s highest density of food scientists and researchers. Danone, the French yogurt maker, has established there a centre for specialized nutrition. Dutch-based Friesland Campina, the world’s third-largest dairy co-operative with 19,000 member dairy farmers, has set up its own innovation centre in the region. The Dutch government has set a goal of being the world leader in sustainability and food nutrition. There’s a lot going on.

The triangulation of knowledge institutes, government and the private sector has give the Netherlands a worldwide reputation with a clear, consistent and unified message.

Canada is a fractured underperformer by comparison.

The Barton crowd thinks Canada needs a vision statement, something like “Canada will become the trusted global leader in safe, nutritious and sustainable food for the 21st century.” I’ve get a better idea. Hire Target, the brilliant St. John’s advertising agency that created the Newfoundland and Labrador tourism campaign. Set them free to make something beautiful, an agriculture-is-us campaign. Let’s start with that.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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