Ruth Ellen Brosseau

[Dairy Industry, November 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the government says it listened to what dairy producers had to say about a compensation plan in relation to the canada-european union comprehensive economic and trade agreement.

Since the announcement, however, dairy producers everywhere have expressed dissatisfaction. Last week, Quebec dairy producers asked the Liberals to increase the amount for producers by $750 million, and they want the program to last 15 years, not five.

Will the government keep pretending to listen to producers, or will it come clean?

[Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, November 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech in the House today.

My colleague briefly mentioned the negative impact of this agreement on the dairy industry and fine cheese processors.

When the Conservative government was in power, it announced a $4.3-billion transition support plan. After a year in office, the Liberal government recently announced a $350-million plan. That is peanuts, really.

The dairy industry and the producers I represent are very worried because they do not see the Liberal government doing enough to protect our supply management system.

I would like my colleague to comment on the importance of having a transition support plan and protecting our borders. The Liberals have been in power for a year, and we are still having problems on diafiltered milk.

Can my colleague comment on these two issues?

[Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, November 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for her speech in the House.

However, I must point out that Quebec's agri-food system finds itself on the losing side of the canada-european union comprehensive economic and trade agreement. Producers feel abandoned by the Liberal government because it is not defending our supply management system under either CETA or the trans-Pacific partnership. The government has been in power for one year and has not yet resolved the issue of diafiltered milk.

Furthermore, the transition assistance plan is only providing $350 million. That is peanuts. The industry believes that there should be between $750 million and $1 billion in transition assistance.

Given that our producers are worried and feel abandoned by the Liberal government, can the minister give us a little more information?

[Gender Equality Week Act, November 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for introducing his bill and for his speech in the House today.

I think this is an interesting and great idea. It is important that we promote awareness. However, this seems to be more of a celebratory piece of legislation, and I think that what we need is something concrete.

We know that 12 years ago we had the pay equity task force that submitted a report. About 12 years ago, there was a report by the standing committee requesting that we move forward on proactive pay equity. That was in 2005.

I wonder if my colleague who has presented this legislation would lobby his government to move pay equity legislation in the House of Commons by the end of 2016 so we can put an end to this discrimination for Canadians.

[Dairy Industry, November 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to break their promises. Their program to compensate dairy producers for losses caused by CETA falls short. Not only will the program last only five years, but it covers only half of the losses that producers will incur. Furthermore, producers will have to pay to participate in the program. I totally understand their disappointment.

Why bother with all these consultations if the government neither listens to producers nor considers their needs?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, November 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, stakeholders from the agriculture sector were clear: as long as there is a labour shortage, there will be problems. Our farmers are losing millions of dollars with every harvest, but that was to be expected.

Instead of taking concrete action on this, the Liberal government holds endless consultations. In the meantime, 14 foreign workers were arrested in Victoriaville on Wednesday and the farmers are facing criminal charges.

When will the Liberal government do something about the labour shortage in the agriculture sector?

[Dairy Industry, November 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the government is all over the map.

I would like to remind the Liberals that, in 2014, they voted in favour of my motion to compensate dairy producers. It seems that they are doing a complete 180.

Senior officials are now talking about transition assistance. They say that they do not anticipate significant losses. However, these losses have been estimated at $150 million. That is significant.

Producers deserve to know the truth. Can we have some clear answers? Will the Liberal government compensate dairy producers, yes or no?

[International Trade, October 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of International Trade demonstrated that she continues to dismiss the concerns of Quebeckers about the repercussions of this free trade agreement.

After promising transparency and consultation, she continues to ignore Canadians. It is no wonder that she is facing challenges in her negotiations in Europe. Quebec dairy producers have expressed serious concerns about this agreement, and there is still no sign of any compensation.

Will the minister finally fix this deal for Quebeckers and Canadians once and for all?

[Dairy Industry, October 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, since coming to power, the Liberals have taken no meaningful action on diafiltered milk.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food admitted that the dairy farmers' and processors' ingredient strategy is not good enough. The minister spent more than a year consulting farmers and every other industry stakeholder, but he is still looking for a solution. That is just outrageous.

I have one simple question: will the government enforce cheese compositional standards starting now, yes or no?

[Fight Against Food Waste Act, October 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to have more time to talk about my Bill C-231. It is an important bill. I also want to thank all the members who spoke today and during the first hour of debate. This bill means a lot to me because fighting food waste is a very important issue.

I thank all those who supported my bill. We received support from a number of organizations, such as Moisson Montréal, Moisson Mauricie, and Moisson Lanaudière. These organizations across Quebec support the initiative and the objective of Bill C-231.

There is also the Quebec chapter of the Friends of the Earth, Rescue Food in Calgary, and l'Escouade anti-gaspillage alimentaire de l'Outaouais. I thank them for the work they do to fight food waste. I also want to mention the Recycling Council of Ontario, and Second Harvest, in Toronto, the largest food distributor in the country. Eight million pounds of food were distributed in the past 12 months.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization commended us on our initiative, Bill C-231, and noted the importance of setting targets for reducing food waste in Canada.

I also recently received the support of Arash Derambarsh, from France. He said:

I am proud to join with my friend...in the fight against food waste in Canada. In France and elsewhere in the world, food waste is a problem that has economic, social, and environmental consequences.... I believe it is urgent that the Canadian government legislate to ensure that unsold food is redistributed rather than thrown out.

I would also like to thank researchers, such as Iris Simard Tremblay, author of the essay Comment réduire le gaspillage alimentaire dans l'industrie agroalimentaire au Québec?; Éric Ménard, a lecturer, blogger, and food waste expert; and Paul Van der Werf, who did extraordinary work. I want to thank Paul for his help and encouragement. We will not give up.

Food waste in Canada is everyone's business A lot of people are concerned about food waste. It is in the news quite often. When we look at what is happening in other countries, we see they have taken some measures that are very important. Canada could be a real leader when it comes to reducing food waste. Food waste has very important social and environmental impacts, and that was mentioned in some of the speeches today.

Earlier today, we had a great debate on the Paris agreement. Is the government serious about tackling climate change?

The fight against food waste is an important part of that. In Canada, we waste 31 million tonnes of food per year, which represents a loss of $31 billion dollars a year. That is shameful. In a country as rich as Canada, approximately 900,000 people rely on food banks. The food distribution system is broken. There are many improvements that need to be made and this bill is a step in the right direction.

There are quite a few questions that were raised about the bill. My colleague from Toronto—Danforth talked a lot about poverty. I think that, yes, the government has a role to play in reducing poverty. Maybe a $15-per-hour minimum wage would be very good. I would also like to say that Second Harvest supports the bill.

My colleague from Cypress Hills—Grasslands, who also sits on the agriculture committee, talked about costs. I think the inaction of the government costs more. Under the Conservatives, since 2008, there was a 26% augmentation of food bank use in Canada. Also, in 2014 there were $27 million in losses from food waste and now we are up to $31 million. Inaction costs more than the action asked for in the bill.

Other people have talked about the importance of holding consultations. In the bill, I ask the Canadian government to do just that; we know how much the Liberal government enjoys holding consultations. If the bill is passed at this stage, it will go to committee, where improvements can be made.

In my opinion, as parliamentarians, we also have the duty to reduce inequality and fight against climate change. This bill is a good step in that direction. If it is not passed, I will continue to fight to reduce food waste and food insecurity in Canada.