Agriculture Committee on Feb. 15th, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Roughly.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

I'm just wondering, gentlemen, about one issue that I know has come up, and maybe André will agree with me here: the tobacco growers in southern Ontario, and I know in Quebec, and I believe...is it P.E.I. or New Brunswick that has a couple, although not very many, I understand...? Is it P.E.I.? I just wonder, Mr. Chairman, to fill up that hour, about having some of them in, and then we could deal with the original plan on another date.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

We had the growers before us about that, but we haven't had government officials here.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Government officials: that's where I'm headed on this, to have somebody from the Ontario and Quebec governments in particular, and of course the federal side, to deal with it. It's just a suggestion.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Mr. Atamanenko.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

With regard to that, Larry, I had a meeting with Joe Preston, and he's aware of that. He was going to take it upon himself to talk to Wayne and André, and maybe we can get a joint letter to the minister, trying to speed up some kind of high-level meeting, We had discussed--I think it was Paul who brought it up at the committee--that we've been around in committees, and now is the time, and we thought it might be a good idea to try something like that. Just so you're aware, apart from the committee, that's in the works, to try to get some kind of meeting to speed this up.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Mr. Steckle.

[Paul Steckle, Liberal, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I agree with you, Larry. We need to expedite a meeting at some point at a very high level.

I've spoken to Mr. Strahl, I've spoken to Joe, and maybe he's spoken to you about it. Of course I've met with the tobacco industry as well. We have had this before the committee many times over the years. This is the final kick at the can, and I think at this point they want to exit the industry.

We have to bite the bullet, do it. A lot of players need to be partners in this, including the industry itself, but I think we can only do that by having all the players at the same table. We need to do that quickly, because March 1 is the deadline.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Mr. Miller.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

I know the exit is what they want. We did have representation here last fall from the industry. That's why I think it's important to hear from the government side. Of course, if there is some kind of strategy it has to be in conjunction with the provinces, so that's the reason.

[Paul Steckle, Liberal, Huron—Bruce, ON]

All the players have to be at the table. I don't think we could do it with just--

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Then are you suggesting, Paul, that we have the provincial governments affected, the federal government, and do we need to bring in the--

[Paul Steckle, Liberal, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I think we need the buyers, we need the processors--the ones who are still here working--and we need the farmers. We need them all at the same table, because we're getting all the messages but they're coming at different points. One is denying what the other said and denying they ever said it. I think it's time we had them all at the table. I know this is what everyone wants, and this is what they're prepared to do.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

I sense there's some consensus here.

I have André and then Alex and then Wayne.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Paul has raised a very relevant point. However, we're talking here about a one-hour meeting. Correct?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

I'm at your disposal. Do we need the producers at the table, since they've already made a presentation? Should we just have the government representation this time to see what they're doing? We know exactly where the producers are. Should we just have the government players and the processors? We haven't had the processors here at all. We can extend one hour.

Mr. Atamanenko.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

My feeling is that we could have people here; it's good, we can listen, and it's recorded. The feeling from the tobacco growers is that it should be pumped up another notch apart from this committee, to work with the minister, to get him to push for a high-level meeting with all the players at that level, so some decisions can be made, so we can get things going. That is the feeling I got when talking to Joe Preston.

I thought that was what Paul was referring to, and that's why we're trying to get that--

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Let's not confuse what we need to do out of the committee with what we need to do at committee.

Wayne was on, then Larry, then Paul.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I agree that we bring in the tobacco producers in the second hour. I think we ought to meet with Mr. Emerson when he's available.

Where will the Wheat Board meeting be moved?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

We could move it back to March 1, when we have biofuels scheduled to start. Why don't we just pump that back?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I think we seriously need to have that meeting. The vote is on ongoing. It needs to be held before the final day.

What's scheduled for next week?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Next Tuesday we have Steve Verheul coming in with representation from CFIA. Industry Canada, Finance are going to come in, and even the Canadian Border Services Agency. So we have that on Tuesday.

On Thursday we're dealing with the farm income crisis. I've only received witness suggestions so far from Alex and André. We have the NFU coming in, the UPA, and I think the University of Regina might be coming. Any suggestions from other members are most welcome. Please submit them immediately. If we think of somebody else who could be there....

We want to talk about women in agriculture and how they're dealing with this crisis. I believe the Women's Institute might be an appropriate organization to be here as well.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

It's getting late in the process--no more delays.

The other thing on this issue is that I really think we should hold an emergency meeting. Next Wednesday is probably too soon because you would need to get witnesses. When they come back to us with names--we can think about it in the meantime--maybe the steering committee should meet to see if it's possible to hold an emergency meeting, because this thing has to move.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

What about the 28th?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

If they get names to us on Monday it will be too soon to call the meeting on the 21st, in fairness to people. The 28th would be possible. Steering committee members can think about it in the meantime, but we really need to deal with this issue quickly. We can't dilly-dally.