Ottawa, ON – John Barlow, Conservative Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Security, Dave Epp, Conservative Deputy Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Security, and Richard Lehoux, Conservative Deputy Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Security, released the following statement on the Liberals’ trip to Washington regarding P.E.I. potatoes:

“Over two months into this political export ban, this Liberal government has failed to stand up for our world-class PEI potatoes and has caused devastating harm to our reputation on the world stage.

“After egregiously labelling the entire island as “infested” with potato wart and forming a group of Liberal Ministers to provide empty words on the political ban, farm families, generational farms, and the future of P.E.I continues to feel the devastating effects of this political dispute.

“To make matters even worse, the out-of-touch Liberals have wasted their energy on public consultations surrounding the size of canned, diced potatoes, rather than focusing on the crisis that continues to plague the sector in P.E.I.

“Farmers want to do what they do best: grow delicious, high-quality food to be shared with the rest of the world. Yet, this Liberal government continues to dither, delay, and stand by their self-imposed export ban rather than take real action. Former Liberal MP Wayne Easter has echoed our calls for an immediate lifting of this self-imposed, political export ban.

“Canada’s Conservatives continue to call for the Liberals to remove their half-baked ban on P.E.I. potato exports at the conclusion of this meeting. We will continue to be the voice of farmers and processors who depend on the industry and can’t wait any longer. If the Trudeau Liberals return with anything less than a full removal of this ban, this trip will be a failure.”