Agriculture committee  I just wanted to add as well that, for instance, on this Piller's pepperoni, they have the lot number, the time, and the best-before date. These guys' traceability is incredible, so they know what's gone into that particular batch. They're just one example of many that have actua

Agriculture committee  I think we're a little bit ahead—a little bit ahead—in terms of animal ID and age verification, but if you go down to the United States and look in their meat case, you'll see a lot more variety in their products. Technically, I wouldn't say we're ahead, but certainly on the anim

Agriculture committee  I'll add that of course we do find the rules are not consistent, they're not all-encompassing, they're not targeting all the food sectors, so we're not happy with that. We really are not proponents of “let's do what they did to us”, because we don't think that's right either. A

Agriculture committee  That is correct. In fact when you started looking at this issue.... I know what it means, and we certainly also don't want consumers to be deceived in any fashion, but we are required to use this. It's probably been for maybe a hundred years, maybe a long time. I would imagine it

Agriculture committee  Well, I'll go first to get it out of the way, but I'm not sure I fully understand how the vegetable sector works. I do know that in Canada we couldn't.... Well, how do I say this? From the meat standpoint, for instance, the USDA choice, they don't let anybody else use that grad

Agriculture committee  Not if it's directly for sale to consumers, as it's supposed to be. If it's taken by fillers and processed further into a sausage, as they do, then it does actually cross a chapter in Canada's customs tariff HS code classification.

Agriculture committee  That's correct. But again, if it's brought in by Costco and if nothing else is done to it, they're supposed to write “Product of Mexico” or “Product of...”.

Agriculture committee  Certainly with the Canadian dollar recently, we're seeing it. A couple of years ago it wasn't a problem, because we didn't see the stuff coming in. It was cheaper for them to buy it from Canada. Now it's becoming an issue, but there are rules that need to be enforced surrounding

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for inviting us to present to you this morning. As you'll recall, we at the Canadian Meat Council have been here before. We represent the largest of Canada's agrifood sectors, with gross sales over $20.3 billion. In fact, last year Canada exported $1.24 billio

Human Resources committee  The employers need to demonstrate that they have exhausted looking for workers in Canada. If you visit the meat packers, they have fairly large human resources departments that are constantly looking for workers.

Human Resources committee  I will answer the first question. It is quite obvious that working conditions in slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are difficult. It is a cold environment and the work is mainly manual, is repetitive and is done standing up. We are all quite aware of that but, unfortunat

Human Resources committee  If you don't pay your employees, you lose them. The challenge is enormous, especially in Alberta. We compete with the whole world. If you pay too much, you won't be able to sell your product.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. I'll start off for the two of us. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for allowing us to speak to you this afternoon. As was mentioned, the presentation you have in front of you we prepared and submitted back in September. There are a few ch

Agriculture committee  Mr. Goldring broached this subject earlier when he talked about Maple Leaf Foods Inc. As for these products, I would like to point out that in Montreal, fat is rendered for commercial uses. What we really need to render are proteins. Regarding biodiesel, we even sold these mater

Agriculture committee  In so far as the $80 million is concerned, are you asking how many animals, percentage wise, are slaughtered in these provinces?