Agriculture committee  Are you talking about the supply chain commissioner or the workforce strategy?

Agriculture committee  As far as the commissioner is concerned, I believe he would play a coordinating role. It's a collaborative coordinating role, so it would be bringing together the different departments to make sure that everybody is going in the same direction and that there's agreement on what the direction and the actions should be for that.

Agriculture committee  That's a good point. We certainly have an example with the grocery code of conduct. I think we're getting a lot done on that. Maybe a similar process could be used for that. Yes, that's a good idea. It could be a similar method.

Agriculture committee  We have no direct answers just now beyond the formation of the task force that was mentioned at the supply chain summit. I'm not involved directly in the actual working groups for that, so I wouldn't be able to answer on the specifics.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for your question. I will answer it in English. I think we use the word “commissioner” to differentiate them from a minister, because perhaps they will be more temporary than a minister. However, the title is less important than the actual work we hope this person would do.

Agriculture committee  I think the commissioner would really play a coordinating role among all of the ministries that would be involved for any particular issue that might come up, and hopefully be looking ahead at issues that could come up potentially. Really, what we're trying to seek with a commissioner is to have one person who would be able to do that coordinating role to make sure that all the other departments involved are talking to each other and work is done collaboratively.

Agriculture committee  Just briefly, one aspect that the group that represents horticultural farmers across the country would appreciate from the government would be outward communication on your part about the importance of agriculture. Agriculture involves only about 3% of the population, at best, even with all the outside industries.

Agriculture committee  I'll start, and then we'll switch.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for having us here. Good morning, everybody. We are very pleased to provide input into your study on mental health challenges in agriculture. The Canadian Horticultural Council is an Ottawa-based, voluntary, not-for-profit national association that represents fruit and vegetable growers across Canada involved in the production of more than 120 different types of crops, with farm cash receipts of $5.4 billion in 2017.

Finance committee  Well, that's a very good question. I found out yesterday that PMRA is undergoing an evaluation of their re-evaluation process, on which we're very much looking forward to providing input. The main concern we have from the PMRA perspective, only for the purpose of this discussion, is that there are over 350 pesticides that are up for re-evaluation, and they're not able to keep up with what they have right now.

Finance committee  Certainly. To a great extent, in the horticultural area particularly, a lot of the jobs are seasonal. Canadians want full-time, year-round jobs. They also want jobs that are more on a 9-to-5 basis and maybe not a 15-hour day sometimes and a four-hour day at other times. It's the consistency and the ability to have income throughout the year that is mainly the disincentive for Canadians, but it's also the very hard work that farming entails.

Finance committee  Honourable Chair and committee members, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today. The Canadian Horticultural Council represents fruit and vegetable farmers across Canada, who grow over 120 different types of crops, with farm cash receipts of $5.4 billion in 2017, the foundation for an estimated produce value chain of $13.9 billion of real GDP and over 181,000 Canadian jobs.

Agriculture committee  Correct. I will ask my colleague to respond about the use of natural gas and propane.

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss the impacts of climate change on Canada's horticultural sector. The Canadian Horticultural Council, or CHC, is a national association that represents fruit and vegetable growers across Canada involved in the production of over 120 different types of crops on over 27,500 farms, with farm cash receipts of $6 billion in 2016.

Agriculture committee  CHC continues to advocate on behalf of growers through the Pest Management Regulatory Agency's process for the re-evaluation of crop protection products and for improvements to the policies that guide the PMRA's regulatory decisions. CHC also continues to advocate for the harmonization of many aspects of the pesticide regulatory system, including maximum residue limits and joint international reviews.