Kody Blois appeared on our May 13 webinar to talk ag policy and what Canadians can expect from the governing Liberals.
Nova Scotia MP and former ag minister Kody Blois has been appointed as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, a move announced last week.
Before the cabinet shuffle that saw Heath MacDonald of Prince Edward Island appointed as Canada’s new ag minister, the outgoing minister and now parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Mark Carney took time to appear in a prerecorded segment on Seed World Canada‘s Retail Strategy webinar.
Blois, a New Brunswick MP, emphasized three pillars that define the Liberal Party’s agenda: regulatory modernization, global competitiveness and regional capacity building.
“The prime minister has made it clear that agriculture is a foundational pillar of Canada’s economic strategy,” Blois said.
On seed innovation, Blois points to CFIA’s evolving approach to gene editing as an example of how regulators can be enablers—not obstacles. “We need to view regulation as a catalyst for innovation, not a constraint. The goal is to expedite processes while still protecting our public policy values.”
For the seed sector specifically, Blois singled out the need for regulatory agility and international alignment. “If we want companies to register products here, we need to be competitive. And we haven’t always been.”
He also called for deeper investment in trade infrastructure—ports, rails, and logistics—if Canada is to realize its full export potential. “We’re one of the largest agri-food exporters in the world,” he says. “But market access only matters if we can deliver on it.”
On the $200 million recently committed to secondary processing, Blois says: “That’s just a start. The real opportunity is catalyzing private investment. Canada can be a magnet for global agri-food capital, but we need to create the conditions.”
In short, it’s about setting the table—then letting industry lead the meal. “Business will take care of business,” Blois adds. “Our job in government is to pave the road.”
