Thanks very much, Bob.
Thanks to the CFA for providing me with this opportunity.
Thanks for the opportunity from the committee to come and attend this meeting.
I'm a partner and farm management consultant with Meyers Norris Penny. Some of my comments on the renewal program, which I'll start, Mr. Chair, are based on our observations working within that program. In western Canada, we probably have over 15,000 farmers as clients, and we've had a fair bit of exposure through working with some of these programs.
From a renewal perspective, first, over the period of time in which the program has been active, we've observed some positive changes in farm management in a lot of situations. I think it quite closely correlates to some of the original intent in the design of renewal and to some of the programs within the renewal pillar.
But we've also noticed some changes, from some of the earlier discussions in which we were involved, in terms of program design and how it's been rolled out and administered over a period of three or four years. As we think back on the three or four years that we've been working within the program, we would question whether or not the benefits to farmers have been optimized to the extent they could have been.
I suppose there could be lots of reasons for that. Some things are tied to administrative costs and the requirement for the administration of the program. Some things are tied to administrative intent. There are inefficiencies within the program and software design delays. There's the requirement to produce written reports, etc. There's then the interpretation and probably the evolution of the program from its inception to where it exists today.
We think there's a real opportunity to leverage input from the private sector. By “leverage”, at least from our perspective, I mean the more people we can get working with farmers in a practical way to get them to think differently about how they're going to manage their farms, the better it would be.
On what Denise talked about, it's what farmers are going to be required to think about in the future. The more people who are leveraged within that relationship, the better it will be. I think the renewal program had an opportunity, and indeed still has an opportunity, to leverage the private sector. By leveraging the private sector, you then get many more people's time invested in having an impact and effecting change in farm management. I think it's a good thing.
I'd note the previous comment I made about some of the positive changes we've seen in some of the farms in which we've had an ongoing relationship that started with some renewal contact. We think there's a real opportunity in renewal. I don't think it's been capitalized on to the extent it could have been within the first few years of the first round of the APF.
It's to tie renewal programming to other pillars of food safety and food quality. Primarily, I guess business risk management would be one that clearly comes to mind, as well as the environment. All of them tie back to farm management, and a lot of the changes in that reside within the renewal pillar.
Those are some of our comments, Mr. Chair, on renewal programming.
From a safety nets advisory committee perspective, I was on the committee for four years. It think it was disbanded in December of last year. I thought the committee had some real strengths. Over time, it served as a good way to bring together a bunch of organizations that had cross-sectoral interests and a multidisciplinary approach. You had government people, producer groups, industry groups, associations, and others who were sitting at the table to discuss business risk management. It was pan-Canadian, and it brought together people from across Canada. From that perspective, it was good.
On my observations from the first few meetings I attended, when recalling some of those meetings and where we ended up, I thought it was an approach that was preferable to an ad hoc approach, where you gather people together for a day to discuss some issues. The benefits are that over time you gain some familiarity with the people who are sitting around the table.
The issues are complex. The issues aren't singularly focused on business risk. It's the basic intent of a safety net. But the issues in farm management are multifaceted, and they span areas other than business risk. When you have people there over time, you begin to understand what their positions are. I think it's a more effective use of time.
On the negative side, there were some constraints I think in terms of the focus on CAIS. It didn't allow us to get as deeply as would have been possible into discussion of other areas that would complement business risk management decisions from a farmer's perspective; there was a lack of regularity in terms of the meetings; we were disappointed, or at least I was disappointed, in the lack of ministerial presence at these meetings; and there seemed to be a bit of a gap in terms of follow-through. There would be a safety nets meeting, and there would be presentations made on behalf of the administration and a lot of discussion. Then people would go back to their businesses, and then when we'd come back to the next meeting, there seemed to be a gap in terms of what was said or what kind of follow-on discussion occurred.
Mr. Chair, those are some comments, both pro and con, in terms of my participation in the safety nets advisory committee.