Bill C-16 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Canadian Dairy Commission Act

This enactment amends the Canadian Dairy Commission Act to increase the maximum total for outstanding amounts of loans made to the Commission by the Minister of Finance and for amounts drawn by the Commission from a line of credit to five hundred million dollars.

Canadian Dairy Commission Act

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-16.

This bill makes sense because milk storage has to align with supply and demand. As everyone knows, there is currently less demand for milk, so it makes sense to increase storage capacity.

Quebec's dairy production is integral to its economy. Some 11,000 dairy farm owners across Quebec produce over three billion litres per year. Those farms are worth up to $2.5 billion. The industry accounts for 28% of Quebec's agricultural revenue.

In good years and bad, Quebec's dairies invest over $700 million in maintaining and improving their facilities. Those investments certainly create significant economic opportunities in Quebec.

Quebec's dairy farms employ over 80,000 people. In 2014, they supported 82,661 direct and indirect jobs.

In terms of Canada's GDP, Quebec's dairy industry generates $6.15 billion. That is a lot.

In terms of tax revenue, the industry contributes $1.3 billion to various levels of government.

On the national level, 36% of dairy sector revenue comes from Quebec, making it the primary milk producing province. Quebec is the top province in terms of volume of milk or number of farms engaged in this production.

What is more, dairy production ranks third of all Canadian farming activities with nearly 11% of some $41 billion in total agriculture revenue. That is quite significant. It is only logical to support dairy production businesses in Quebec, but also in all the regions. More specifically in my region, the Lower St. Lawrence, in which I represent the riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, more than 590 farms are tied to dairy production. That is more than 5,100 jobs and economic spinoffs of $272 million a year. More than seven plants are also tied to dairy production and these processing plants provide 800 jobs.

The dairy industry's contribution to the GDP is more than $400 million in the Lower St. Lawrence region alone. It is a very important part of our economy and a lot of jobs depend on it. We must support them. It is very important.

This has been going on since April and we are wondering why the bill we are debating today was not introduced sooner.

A great amount of milk was lost because, among other things, production could not be reduced. There was also less overall consumption. Since April, I have personally had several discussions with representatives of producers, in particular those in the Lower St. Lawrence. They laid out the facts for me. They even had to dump milk. That seemed unbelievable and unacceptable to us. We must therefore ensure that we review storage and adjust the different systems in place.

More specifically, the data we obtained indicated that with schools, restaurants and different institutions closed, consumption dropped by almost 35%. In the end, it makes sense because it is about supply and demand.

Supply cannot necessarily stop. We know that cows are not equipped with a tap or button that shuts off milk production. On the consumption side, I was surprised to see that milk was being rationed by some stores. With COVID-19, they wanted to protect people's access to milk. Some stores restricted sales to a quart of milk per person. When people cannot consume more, rationing leads to problems with demand from the public.

Another surprise we got during the COVID-19 crisis is that CUSMA is going to come into effect on July 1 rather than August 1. That came as a shock to many people, particularly dairy farmers in my region and across Quebec. Moving up the implementation date will be problematic, because quotas are going to go down. Indeed, for dairy farmers, the dairy year begins on August 1 and ends on July 31.

Moving up the implementation date for CUSMA will mean a reduction in milk protein. Dairy producers got the nasty surprise of having to sell their stock in a very short time period: specifically, 55,000 tonnes in the first year, and 35,000 tonnes after that. In the past, the limit was nearly 85,000 tonnes. Canada's dairy farmers estimate they are going to lose $340 million a year, which is a huge amount for that industry.

Those farmers feel cheated. When I talk to them about this issue, they recall their agreement with the government, which claimed to want to support them. When they are hit with that kind of surprise, especially during this time of crisis, what message does that send to our farmers? Does the government want to support them or discourage them? The current deal does not reflect what the government said at the outset. Words must be put into action, and this proves that the government has failed to support dairy farmers in the regions and across Quebec.

I have to point out that the 3.5% quota in CUSMA for the United States represents a loss of production for dairy farmers. Some of the farms in the regions of Quebec are small operations, and we must support them. My colleagues spoke about the next generation of farmers. I have recently heard from farmers who tell me that they are falling through the cracks of the system. They are not eligible for the $40,000 Canada emergency business account because they do not have a payroll of at least $20,000. What will they do? They are worried and do not know if they will make it through the crisis.

Right now is sowing period in Quebec. Although it has been delayed, in particular because of current temperatures, farmers do not have the money they need to buy seed and to plan for the upcoming season. They are thinking about calling it quits and they do not know what to tell to their children who want to take over the farm. These farmers do not feel supported by the government. They feel helpless and are trying to find solutions with the help of colleagues and farmers in the region, but are not finding any. They therefore contact us, their members of Parliament, so that we can speak on their behalf, which I am proud to do today.

This is worrisome. As we experience this pandemic, a historic crisis, we want people to be safe and secure, and also healthy. Safety and security includes food security. We do not want to receive our supplies exclusively from multinational companies. We want to support local businesses and enable farmers to continue by helping them financially.

Earlier, my colleague mentioned psychological support, and I am saddened to see what farmers in my region are going through. There is only one farm outreach worker for the entire Lower St. Lawrence region, which is totally unacceptable and inefficient. We say we want to help farmers. Farmers are very isolated. They work long hours every day and every week on their farms. They may not have anyone to confide in and talk to about their problems, not to mention their financial burden. They really need an outlet for their stress. They should not just be seeing financial problems. The government urgently needs to rectify this situation.

Farmers need cash and financial support from the government. We need to send a very strong message. I will be watching closely to make sure the government adjusts its measures.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, this is more of a comment than a question.

I listened carefully to what the member said. I hear not only his heart, but also his head. I would like him to know that even though I do not know him well, I think he speaks clearly and eloquently and is thinking with both his head and his heart. It is clear that it comes from deep within. I just want to commend him and encourage him to keep going.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am flattered. I thank my colleague for his comments.

I sincerely hope he has heard the heartfelt pleas I have proudly expressed on behalf of farmers in my region. They are at the end of their collective rope because they are trying to find solutions to the problems I mentioned. They need both financial and psychological help, and we hope the government will hear their pleas.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague for his very insightful intervention. He raised a number of very relevant points.

I too found it moving, and I would like him to tell us about the farmers he mentioned earlier, the ones who called his office to say how bad things were getting and to ask for help and support.

As an MP, how does he feel, and what message does he want to send to the government and the Treasury Board? We need to take advantage while they are here and tell them that it takes money. The $252 million they announced is barely 10% of what was asked, and the overall aid package that the Canadian government is offering to the agriculture sector is proportionately 12 times less than what the United States is providing. Tomorrow morning, in a context of global free trade, our farmers are going to be asked to compete with these people, despite not being on a fair footing.

How does my colleague feel about that, and can he comment on his desire to speak for farmers?

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague's comments and completely agree with him.

The message we must send to our producers and farmers is that we are there to support them. Every year 5% to 7% of farms are abandoned by the producers. That sends a very strong message. They are sounding the alarm and we must listen to them and support them.

The money announced by the government represents barely 10% of what was requested. The government is providing $250 million, while the Canadian Federation of Agriculture asked for $2.6 billion. That is totally inadequate. The government needs to be consistent. If we want to support them we must have more targeted measures and financial programs that are specifically designed for them.

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, not long ago we all saw pictures of farmers dumping milk, and it was a lot of milk. I was quite shocked when I saw those pictures, and I am sure many other Canadians were as well. I have learned that this waste of Canadian milk is one of the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our economy and our agriculture sector.

Because restaurants and other retail vendors have had to close their doors, or have seen a dramatic decrease in sales, the overall demand for milk and milk products has been greatly reduced. This is why 30 million litres of milk had to be dumped over the last few months. What a waste, and what a huge impact the loss of sales must be having on the Canadian dairy sector.

I would like to recognize the hard work of my colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. My hon. colleague, a farmer himself, has worked tirelessly for years not only to represent his constituents but also to fight for the needs of the Canadian agriculture sector and farmers right across the country. He has also been a vocal advocate for the protection of the dairy industry and the needs of dairy farmers, especially in the face of the constant attacks on this sector during the negotiations of the most recent international trade deals.

It is from my hon. colleague that I learned of the importance of protecting this vital sector. It is also from him that I learned how slow the government has been to respond to the pressing needs of dairy farmers and their families. Five weeks ago the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture supporting an appeal from the Dairy Processors Association of Canada to the government to take the very action proposed in the very short bill that is before us today.

While the numbers may be slightly different, as the original request involved slightly higher numbers, the idea was exactly the same. We also know that Mathieu Frigon, president and CEO of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, made the same request last month.

Why did it take the government so long to respond and finally come forward with a bill that would provide the necessary assistance? That is the question on the minds of many Canadians.

Why does it take so long for the government to respond to the needs of Canadians during COVID-19? How on earth did it take over five weeks to produce this very simple bill, a bill that would provide critical assistance not only to the entire dairy industry but also to the dairy farmers and their families? Canadians must wonder just how much damage dairy farmers have had to suffer because the government was too slow to respond.

Of course this is just one example of the government dragging its feet. The government's response to the COVID-19 crisis has been characterized as a patchwork of initiatives and programs designed largely to cut people out instead of making sure no one is left behind. Announcements are made with no or only sketchy details to back them up, and the resulting programs end up being so complicated and chaotic that the people who need them have a hard time figuring out how to access them.

I am sure I am not the only member whose office has been overwhelmed with just trying to get the proper information about the eligibility criteria of various assistance programs so we can help the many desperate constituents calling our offices for help.

Yesterday's announcement was a series of initiatives to help Canadian seniors, and it is a good case in point. Many members in the chamber have been getting a barrage of calls and emails from seniors describing the hardships they are facing due to the COVID-19 crisis, and they are imploring the government to help.

As the NDP critic for seniors, I have been working non-stop since the very first week of the crisis to persuade the government to pay attention to the needs of seniors and to take action. It took eight full weeks to get the government to respond. We all know that only happened because we negotiated an agreement on our last unanimous consent motion and we put the government's back to the wall. What a shame it took that kind of effort to get the government to pay attention to the desperate needs of Canadian seniors.

That being said, while we are happy the government has finally recognized Canadian seniors need help during the pandemic, it is too little after the government had committed to help seniors without delay. On support for persons with disabilities, the government has been silent so far.

Again, the government has come up with a program short on details and missing the mark on what is needed. By offering a one-time payment, the government is ignoring the shortfalls seniors were dealing with before the pandemic, and the needs of Canadian seniors that will still be there next month.

What happens next month? Will all Canadians get assistance next month when they face the same increased costs for groceries, transportation and medication, just to name a few?

When asked yesterday, both the Minister of Seniors and the President of the Treasury Board basically threw up their hands and said they would have to figure that one out. How does that make any sense? How are Canadian seniors supposed to feel assured when the federal ministers responsible admit the assistance being provided is too low?

Let me get back to the bill at hand. The bill is about increasing the credit limit threshold for the Canadian Dairy Commission, from the existing $300 million per year to $500 million per year, in the existing buyback agreement the CDC has with producers to manage storage. This will allow the already struggling dairy industry, which has been hit hard by successive trade deals in recent years, some breathing space in the form of certain products like butter, various types of cheese and milk powder. Those products with a longer shelf life can be purchased by the CDC in larger quantities, then bought back under the existing agreement by producers when market fluctuations normalize within a set period of time once the COVID-19 crisis is over.

Pierre Lampron, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, is quoted as saying:

Never have we seen such fluctuation in demand for milk from one week to another, and despite the best efforts to manage production to align with consumer needs, bottlenecks resulted in milk having to be disposed at the farm, something no dairy farmer wants to see.

New Democrats are glad to see the government finally take this step. Farmers have been waiting weeks for this support. After everything the government has done to dairy farmers, it is the least it can do to support them during a pandemic. Instead of investing more to help our agricultural producers during this crisis, the government is letting them down. Many still are not eligible for support programs.

If it were not for the concessions being made through successive trade deals like CETA, CPTPP and now CUSMA, we would not have a surplus of American milk flooding Canadian borders, leading to the current Canadian supply glut and necessitating the recent dumping of 30 million litres of liquid milk. We have a supply management system in Canada, and this unprecedented supply glut in Canada speaks to the need for negotiations to take our food sovereignty seriously when engaging in future trade talks.

That is why the agreement the NDP negotiated with the Deputy Prime Minister regarding future trade deals is so important. Parliament will, for the first time ever, be able to review future trade deals in advance of ratification instead of merely providing a yea or nay vote after the deal is done. However, it is important to discuss the concessions that were made because of CUSMA to our supply-managed dairy sector. We are giving up a few percentages of our market, as we did under CPTPP and CETA.

The Liberals constantly say in the House that they are the party that defends supply management and are the ones who brought it in. However, now we have started to see more cuts. The problem is that when we were negotiating CUSMA and opening up parts of our markets to the United States, especially in supply management, in a sense what the government asked dairy farmers to do was pay the price for another jurisdiction's overproduction problems.

When I say that, I mean that I am really baffled when I see corporations and businesses in Canada that make material or produce milk, do our farming or do anything, and taxpayers have to pay them a subsidy not to do their maximum production.

I find it baffling that we have to allow other countries to bring their products in so that our farmers, such as the ones we are discussing today, cannot produce to their maximum.

I would like to make an illustration by using this as an example. The state of Wisconsin produces more milk than the entire country of Canada. As it does not have supply management, it has wild fluctuations in price and many farmers have been experiencing bankruptcy down there. There are serious concerns about mental health. They do not have the protection there, and in a sense we are trying to open up our market because of the U.S. demands. We are trying to pay the price for their over-production.

It goes further. Under clause 3.A.3 of CUSMA, we have now agreed to establish threshold limits on exports. We have put those threshold limits on things like infant formula, milk protein concentrates and skim milk powder. This means that Canada has agreed to absolutely limit exports in those categories. Furthermore, if we exceed those thresholds, we are subject to a punitive tariff, which would essentially price us out of the market.

Currently, we know that the dairy industry is pleased to get this support, but I understand there is anxiety about events set to occur this summer. The implementation of the new CUSMA on July 1 is expected to cause difficulties for the dairy industry unrelated to COVID-19, and are certain to add to difficulties caused by the pandemic. The difficulty arises because the implementation date of July 1 does not coincide with the start date of the dairy industry's fiscal year, which is August 1. Export limits on certain dairy products such as skim milk and new tariff-free market access to foreign dairy products are supposed to have been phased in over several years. Effectively, this all means that the first year of that process will only be one month long, between July 1 and August 1, and Canadian dairy producers will lose about 11 months of transition. It has been estimated that the situation will cost the dairy industry tens of millions of dollars on top of the costs of the other concessions.

Talks are under way to have the government provide some sort of compensation package to help the agriculture sector affected by the new CUSMA, but those talks have been stalled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What baffles me is that taxpayers are going to be paying for something that our Canadian farmers can produce, but we have to ask farmers to dump that and we will pick up that cost. This is not acceptable. The government needs to focus on providing relief to our agriculture sector and our farmers and their families, and not delay any further talks to provide compensation.

Of course, we support quick passage of this bill. It is important that we provide assistance to our dairy farmers and those in the dairy industry as soon as possible. It is my hope that there will be no delays in getting this aid out of the door as soon as possible.

Let me also say that it is critical for the government not only to develop programs to help all Canadians through this COVID-19 crisis, but also that this assistance be provided in a manner that is accessible and available. Too often, we have seen critical delays in the development of programs, even after they have been announced, and confusion about the availability criteria and difficulties for people easily accessing the programs. The government needs to do a better job thinking about how its programs are constructed. Canadians in need are paying the price for the government's disorganization.

Later today, I will be meeting with some representatives from the labour movement whose members are experiencing just such a problem. Unionized workers across Canada who had negotiated supplementary unemployment benefits are unable to access those top-up funds because of the risk of being cut off from the CERB program. This makes no sense, and is unacceptable. So far, appeals to fix the crack in the CERB program have fallen on deaf ears. The government needs to fix this problem and any other similar problems that have been identified with eligibility for CERB.

I am glad that we are moving today to help those in the dairy sector, but there is much more work to be done. I do not think anyone assumes that this pandemic crisis is going to end any time soon. The government needs to act now and to act quickly to make it clear what assistance will be available in the coming months. Canadians are depending on it.

I thank everybody for listening.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that it is the job of opposition parties to hold the government to account, and it is the job of opposition parties to push for more and better all the time. I get that. I understand that, but let us look at what really happened.

I want to go back to the member's comment when he said, “Why did it take so long for the government to respond...to the needs of Canadians?”

The reality of the situation is that, in a matter of one month and three days, we went from the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic to having money in the bank accounts of 5.4 million people. Of course, the government cannot accomplish that all on its own. It is done with the incredible work of the government agents who work to implement these programs. Some of them probably worked day and night. Some of them probably came in and worked on this project, who had absolutely no experience on how to do this, but rose to the occasion to deliver on behalf of the needs of Canadians.

Would the member recognize that one month and three days from declaring a global pandemic to putting the money into 5.4 million bank accounts would not at least constitute a small measure of success that the NDP could accept?

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a lot of good work is being done by many people on the Liberal side, many people on the Conservative side, the Bloc and the NDP. Everybody is trying to do what they can do. What bothers me, what bothers Canadians and a lot of us, is that the Prime Minister is out there working hard every day, making news media announcements because of pressure that has been put on him. He comes out and gives people hope, and then we have no idea what the hell that means. We try to find out information, but the telephone lines are plugged and our offices are working more and more to try to get that information. Even the ministers do not know.

All I am trying to say is that if we are going to try to come out with plans and have announcements to affect the people and help Canadians, let us make sure that we have all the details in hand and not two weeks later when everybody is working, and then we find out who has fallen through the cracks.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's speech today, and to my Liberal colleague along the way, I know everyone's trying to work hard, but he talked about a month and three days, when our American cohorts put that same amount, or way more, on a parallel basis, out in three days, not a month and three days.

I just wanted to say that we continue to work at trying to improve these programs. A fine example is what we are debating here today. The dairy industry deserves to have this to make sure that it does not have to destroy the product that it has processed. All of the input costs are in that process, and it would be a shame to have to throw it out.

I want to say that in so many other areas, we have heard the government say, “Here is 10% of what was asked for,” and maybe it will give them some later. To your point about how we just do not know what is coming next and the uncertainty of that in dire straits, when they have already seen what has been asked, leaves everybody in a state of flux. I wondered if you could expand on that.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members to place their question through the Chair. I am sure that the member meant that we will let the hon. member for Hamilton Mountain answer that, and not me.

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will go back to the last point from the previous question, that we all are working hard. As the member has asked, the problem is that the announcements are being made with no details that follow. We go on there, we do some technical briefings and we are basically wasting two hours of everybody's time, because we have to get some more information as they work.

I believe Canadians are getting the hope that something is being heard and something is going to come forward, but rumours that go through, because nobody knows any of the details. Somebody hears one thing and another person hears another thing, and then we find out that on some of the programs, and I will use EI and the SUBP fund as examples, people would get more money on EI than on the CERB, but they had to go on CERB because they were laid off after March 15. Now, not only are they losing out on $75 a week on their unemployment, which is $300 a month, they are also losing $150 per week on their SUBP payments. That is a total of $900. This is the stuff that happens when everybody is not at the table explaining the details to them of what can actually happen.

We have people who are actually losing $900 a month who paid into a program, but the government has made a new program that stops them from getting that.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to come back to a comment made by an hon. government member. He said that he understood that the opposition had to ask for more.

What the opposition does not understand is why the government did not act faster. As my NDP colleague graciously pointed out, it took the government over a month to take action. I hope no one will try to tell me it was complicated. Today, we are changing one number in an act. We are crossing out the number 300 and changing it to 500. That took over a month, so do not tell me that the government acted quickly.

I really enjoyed my esteemed colleague's heartfelt speech. He clearly cares about agriculture. That is something we have in common, and I am pleased about that. He talked a lot about the attacks on supply-managed sectors in free trade agreements. He spoke about the need to protect these sectors in the future. I imagine he would agree that supply management should be protected through legislation.

I have other sub-questions. Does my colleague think that this is a good time to make compensation available and to send money to farms in Quebec and across Canada?

Does he think that a way of saving the dairy industry would be to grant import quotas, the percentages awarded, to processors rather than to distributors?

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that we help our dairy sector, and the cost will be a lot higher than what the government has offered.

Farmers were told, even with the CUSMA deal, that we would compensate them for all the losses that we had taken out of their production. That has not happened. Now with the pandemic and with what will happen between July 1 and August 1, it will be devastating, which is creating mental issues for our farmers. They have expenses, but have no income. They are finding out now that they are doing all this work for nothing. Therefore, it is critical that we ensure these people, who have gone through this hard time because of new rules, get compensated on a fair basis.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have more of a comment than a question.

In response to the comment that was made by the Conservative colleague across the way, suggesting that the U.S. had delivered its stimulus funding within three days, that is absolutely and factually incorrect. In fact, if the member googles it, he will find an NBC article that references that. By April 21, the first 80 million Americans waiting for stimulus funding had not received it. To suggest that somehow Americans had received stimulus funding so incredibly quickly is just factually incorrect. I would encourage him to look that up and to understand the issue before commenting on it. In fact, Canada was far beyond any other country in terms of delivering stimulus funding and the timeliness of it, especially when we use comparator countries to Canada.

I am not trying to belabour this point, but in the spirit of trying to put the right facts on the table and on the floor, we need to have a conversation as it relates to what actually happened. To suggest otherwise is just factually incorrect.

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that was not a question and so I cannot answer. I think we all heard it, and I will just leave it there.