Agriculture committee  There is the comment I made earlier. We have already seen positive results by way of provincial action from the removal of the federal impediments, because they then can't blame the federal statutes for their inability to act. We have observed that they are more responsive to wha

Agriculture committee  I'm no regulatory expert, but I am not aware of any federal statutes that would allow us to have an impact in that particular area.

Agriculture committee  The horticulture industry in Canada offers a unique challenge given the fact that it isn't a storable product. You can keep animals such as cattle off the market, and you can store your grain, but you can't do that when it comes to seasonal products that need to be consumed or ut

Agriculture committee  We certainly haven't heard them to the extent that you have and on such a consistent basis. It generally has not been raised. If I may hazard a guess, I think our interaction generally but not exclusively happens with the larger businesses, whereas your experience covers the smal

Agriculture committee  In terms of this specific situation I don't have any words of wisdom to offer. I can only say that it's not unusual for us at the department to get representation from various aspects of the industry who may have different points of view on the best solutions. What we try to do i

Agriculture committee  Generally speaking, when the industry brings something to our attention that they feel is a barrier, the value added we have is to take a look at what the government's role is and determine whether or not we can make a difference. Certainly for the wine industry we looked at vari

Agriculture committee  No, it's not easy. In response, following up on Mr. McCauley's statement, it really is up to the provincial governments to determine what they are willing to do. Since the change to the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act on the federal side, what we have seen is that provin

Agriculture committee  During the consultations on Growing Forward 2, which directly led into decisions made on the programming, there was a great deal of interest in the industry of having a five-year horizon for some of the funding. I'll use an example in the malting barley industry. If you're going

Agriculture committee  I believe that was a big part of the purpose behind having a producer and processor summit, the one held by Minister Ritz in November. Sometimes the producers are concerned they're not getting their fair share. The processors are concerned they're put in a position of not being a

Agriculture committee  I'm assuming you're referencing the Agri-Processors/Producers' Summit we had last November.

Agriculture committee  I think the biggest issue they're all facing is the changes in the global marketplace and the competitiveness of the industry. The world isn't as it used to be. In particular, you can't take your domestic market for granted anymore. We've seen a significant increase in Canada in

Agriculture committee  I haven't undertaken any analysis of that, so I couldn't respond.

Agriculture committee  We do have written minutes that can be made available to the committee.

Agriculture committee  The report we would make available, I would suggest, is more than just the minutes. It includes background information and some recommendations for action on the industry's part.

Agriculture committee  In our discussions with the wine industry, and we do have regular discussions, I don't believe this particular issue has been raised frequently. However, there always are individual company issues as well as association issues. There certainly are opportunities for us to pursue