Evidence of meeting #26 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
That is reasonable, and would still be reasonable, even if the percentage was 75 or 85 per cent. You would like the greatest percentage of the content to be produced here in Canada.
Technical Director, Conseil de la transformation agroalimentaire et des produits de consommation (CTAC)
Yes, the 80 per cent threshold is based on a study carried out by Aliments Québec, which is already responsible for managing the identification of Quebec products. A study carried out through the Bombardier Research Chair determined that 80 per cent was an acceptable threshold for consumers.
For consumers, 80-per-cent Canadian content is acceptable. It is also acceptable for use of the “Prepared in Canada” designation. The 80 per cent threshold seemed to be acceptable for saying that the product was produced or prepared in Canada.
Conservative
Technical Director, Conseil de la transformation agroalimentaire et des produits de consommation (CTAC)
Perhaps, but our proposal is generic. A little earlier, this gentleman was talking about the meat industry, and in my opinion, that needs to be reviewed based on requirements in each of the different industries. The issues are different in the dairy sector, for example. There is no firm proposal there for the content level to be 80 per cent.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Yes, it has to work for all the industries.
Technical Director, Conseil de la transformation agroalimentaire et des produits de consommation (CTAC)
Yes, the threshold has to be realistic.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Mr. McDuff, you mentioned in your presentation that the policy has not been changed for 40 years. Has it really been 40 years?
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
To my knowledge, the current policy definition goes back to the 1970s, which means that is 40 years old.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Well, I guess it is time to take a second look at the “Product of Canada” designation.
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
Yes, that is basically our take on this. It's possible that we just let this issue gather dust but, at the same time, an entire agri-food trade has developed that didn't exist 40 years ago. The GATT agreements, the WTO agreements, emerging countries, and products from China, India, Sri Lanka, Chile and elsewhere did not pose a problem 40 years ago, when the definition of “Product of Canada” was originally established.
Conservative
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
Yes, and I think we need to adapt.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I guess you agree with Ms. Jean when she says that about 80 per cent of the content should be Canadian.
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
Well, she referred to 80 per cent, but our approach is somewhat different. These are things that will certainly have to be modulated when the regulations are finalized. What we are saying is that the raw materials used for the product to be sold must be of Canadian origin. The President of our Federation was saying to me yesterday, as we were on our way to Ottawa, that when he eats duck à l'orange, he is not eating oranges, but duck. So, the duck has to be Canadian. It doesn't matter whether the oranges come from Florida; the duck has to be Canadian. And it's pretty much the same thing for dill pickles. When I, as a consumer, buy dill pickles, I'm not buying them because I want to eat dill; I'm buying them because I want to eat cucumbers. So, the main ingredient must be a Canadian product. The spices, vinegar or other ingredients do not have to be.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
What you're saying is that the policy has to be reasonable.
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
Yes, and the policy has to remain credible.
Conservative
General Manager, Fédération québécoise des producteurs de fruits et légumes de transformation
If we start playing around with percentages, and the consumer has the feeling that there is no consistency, and that there are exceptions, at that point, the definition will cease to be credible and we will not have made any progress whatsoever.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Thank you.
I'd just like to address some of the other witnesses.
I'm assuming that all of you would agree that if we had two products--all things being equal and as long as the price was competitive--the average Canadian walking into the supermarket would choose the Canadian product if the person could identify the Canadian product. Is there anybody who disagrees with that? Do any of the witnesses? Do you disagree with that?
Conservative
General Manager, Further Poultry Processors Association of Canada
No. You have to be very careful in how you go down that road, because there may be, and there are, in fact, many products that people prefer imported. They have already had a taste and they like it. Imported wine is a good example. You, yourself, probably in your own home, have imported product that you prefer over Canadian product.
But if you're saying, in general, to give the consumer better information as to what is Canadian and that will lead to better choices, that will lead to creating more demand for Canadian products, the answer, probably, is yes, it will. So that can happen, and that's the reason we're looking at this issue. There is not enough information on the label to give the Canadian consumer that choice. So let's create the choice. But don't do it because you think you're going to win in terms of Canadians choosing Canadian products all the time.
Conservative
General Manager, Further Poultry Processors Association of Canada
No, but suppose you have a recall. A Canadian product is involved in a recall. Then Canadians may say, whoops, we think we'll switch to that other product.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I have limited time, and I'd like to address Mr. Horel.
Mr. Horel, what do you think of Ms. Jean's suggestion that if you're going to label a product “Product of Canada”, a Canadian product should have a high content, whatever that number is, produced in Canada or grown in Canada, whatever term you want to use?