Hon. Daryl Fridhandler: Honourable senators, it gives me great pleasure to welcome to the Senate today my friends Harry and Randi Gross, joining us from Lethbridge, Alberta. Harry is a well-known businessman of Lethbridge across sectors including real estate, irrigation, and as a professional CPA, or Chartered Professional Accountant. In 2018, Harry was president of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce.
The Grosses were the point people in Lethbridge during our valuable Senate familiarization tour of southern Alberta this past summer. For me, the most enlightening aspect of the visit was the magnitude and importance of agriculture.
Our visit began with a reception hosted at the Lethbridge Trade & Convention Centre, with local leaders eager to engage us on the potential of their region. Attendees included the Mayors of Lethbridge, Taber and Coaldale; the reeves of surrounding counties; local MLAs, or members of the Legislative Assembly; and industry and economic development leadership.
The main themes of the night were twofold. The first was the potential of renewable energy in southern Alberta, driven largely by wind and solar resources. The second was Canada’s Premier Food Corridor, or CPFC, a collaborative economic development initiative comprising five southern Alberta municipalities. The CPFC is home to superior irrigation and growing conditions, currently hosting 65-plus specialty crops grown over 900,000-plus acres of irrigated land and generating $5 billion annually in agri-food production while creating thousands of jobs in farming, food processing and logistics.
The following morning, Harry Gross and Sandra Dufresne, the latter from Economic Development Lethbridge, accompanied us on our stops through the region.
First up was the Cavendish Farms potato-processing facility. In 2024, the facility processed almost 450 million pounds of locally grown potatoes. We ended our early morning tour with a fresh feast of french fries at 8 a.m., not my usual start to a day.
Our next stop was at the Hillridge Hutterite Colony, where we were warmly welcomed, briefed on the background of Hutterites in Canada and advised on the colony’s agriculture, cattle and pig-farming operations.
Our agricultural adventure ended with a visit to Big Marble Farms. Big Marble encompasses approximately 8,000 acres of greenhouses, its own co-gen facility and a year-round harvest of almost all of the cucumbers and tomatoes for the Western provinces.
So let me say, although I am not quite ready to join the Agriculture and Forestry Committee, my knowledge of agriculture in Alberta has been broadened. In my books, agriculture is now right up there with Alberta’s energy in terms of importance to Alberta and importance to Canada. I still have lots to learn.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds as the southern Alberta agriculture and renewable energy sectors continue to innovate and grow.
Harry and Randi Gross, Lethbridge and the broader southern Alberta region are lucky to have such strong advocates like you. Thank you. Meegwetch.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.