Agriculture Committee on June 12th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you very much. We appreciate your intervention.

With that, we'll turn it over to Monsieur Boisjoly.

[Christian Boisjoly, Director, Association des producteurs de tabac jaune du Québec]

It is Mr. Beaulieu who will be presenting, instead.

[Gaétan Beaulieu, Chair, Association des producteurs de tabac jaune du Québec]

Members of the Committee, to begin with I would like to thank you for your invitation to appear before this committee.

The Association des producteurs de tabac jaune du Québec 2203, whom I represent, counts 49 members. They are growers or ex-growers who have quit tobacco production by taking the Federal government's TAAP program.

Last year, the members of our association, represented by Mr. Christian Boisjoly, deposited a brief which explained the different steps in the tobacco crisis.

I was co-chair of the round table put into effect by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food of Canada. The position of the Quebec growers was well understood by the members of the round table. At the end of our discussions, the Honourable Bob Speller announced the TAAP program on May 4, 2004. Unfortunately, the $67 million of the program was not enough to meet the specifics of the Quebec quota system.

After a year of discussions, it was imperative to put in place the TAAP program with the understanding that the Agriculture Minister at that time would continue with a process to elaborate another program but on a long-term basis. Even though there were different meetings with the Minister's representatives, Mr. Donald Boucher, to name one, it does not seem that a program is in preparation.

The four Quebec growers who preferred to continue with tobacco production have to put an end to production this year. Their buyer has not renewed his contracts this year and the 2007 inventories have not all been shipped.

It is more and more difficult for Quebec growers to keep their farms in production. The cost of converting to other crops was enormous and 2007 was a catastrophe for exports.

We truly believed that the Minister of Agriculture of the time, the Honourable Chuck Strahl, would put a program in place for the tobacco growers as mentioned in his letter addressed to me and dated September 26, 2006.

I am here today to inform this Committee that the Quebec tobacco file is not complete and we are still waiting for an invitation from the Federal government to participate in a process to examine possible solutions on a long-term basis.

I thank you for your time and please accept my distinguished salutations. I am prepared to answer any questions you wish to ask me. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you very much.

With that, I think we'll go with five-minute rounds.

Mr. St. Amand.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for appearing before us today.

We've heard about lots of meetings. We understand that the meetings are going well—whatever that might mean, because no concrete results have been established and no deadline for reporting back has been established. So I'm not quite certain what it actually represents to say that the meetings are going well, in the face of farmers who are committing suicide.

Mr. Lechowicz, in terms of what this committee can immediately do to assist tobacco farmers—and I'm not talking about scheduling more meetings—if I were to seek unanimous consent from committee members for a motion calling on the federal government to provide immediate funding to the extent of $1.78 per pound for tobacco farmers in Canada, as an interim payment until a full exit strategy can be implemented, how would such a motion be received by your sector?

[Jon Lechowicz]

I'd have to say that it would be welcomed, because it does have the caveat that we can still make this fair in the future. I think it would be fair to the community too, because Mr. Preston seems to be concerned about the community—and well should be—just as we were in our blueprint for action, where we identified $150 million for the community on pages 9 and 10 of our original blueprint. Perhaps that fell on good ears. But it would be welcomed.

From my point of view, I recognize Mr. Preston's point that this is all-encompassing, but that doesn't mean it all has to happen at the same time, because the barber shop and the restaurant will there in three years, but half of our members may not be here in one year.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

As I understand it, there have been meetings and more meetings and more discussions and more suggestions and expectations. But am I correct in thinking that to this point, not a dollar has been received by tobacco farmers or quota owners from the Conservative government?

[Jon Lechowicz]

I guess that would be correct.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Is there any guessing about it?

[Jon Lechowicz]

No, there would be no guessing. I have not received anything directly with tobacco, and I don't believe any other tobacco farmers have.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

All right.

Are you yourself a tobacco farmer, Mr. Lechowicz?

[Jon Lechowicz]

Yes, I am. My family has been farming tobacco since 1930.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Okay.

I've had discussions or conversations with some bankers, and it's my understanding that institutional lenders, based on commitments or overtures that had been made by the Conservative government, have held off foreclosing or taking aggressive collection steps because of what they understood to be commitments made by the government. Is my understanding correct or not correct?

[Jon Lechowicz]

I believe that's correct. We have seen the results of that too.

[Peter Van Berlo, Farmer, Tobacco Farmers In Crisis]

I'd like to add that the communities and so on wouldn't be in as bad shape as they are now had the Conservatives taken care of the farmers two and half or three years ago.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Chair, it's my understanding that to bring a motion I require unanimous consent. If I'm wrong on that, I stand to be corrected, but—

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Actually, the standing order that we have, as passed at our opening meeting when we reconvened, states that all motions require 48 hours' notice.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

What I would like to do, then, is—

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

You can seek unanimous consent.

[Lloyd St. Amand, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Exactly. I would ask, then, for unanimous consent to introduce a motion calling on the federal government to immediately provide funding to the extent of $1.78 per pound to tobacco farmers in Canada as an interim payment until a full exit strategy can be implemented.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Is there unanimous consent?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Is this being tabled in both official languages as per the standing orders as well?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

I'll just read our standing order, according to the minutes of November 14, 2007:

That 48 hours notice shall be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee; and that the period of notice be calculated from the time the motion has been distributed to the members of the committee by the clerk of the committee; and that the motion shall be distributed to members in both official languages; and that all motions received by the clerk shall be placed upon the agenda of the first committee meeting following the period of notice.

However, unanimous consent can overrule the standing orders.

We have a motion. Is there unanimous consent for him to proceed?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

On a point of order, then, Mr. Chair, what you're saying is that the standing orders we set up at the beginning can just be overruled—

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

As they are in the House of Commons as well, Mr. Storseth.