Evidence of meeting #28 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 product.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
President, Food Processors of Canada
Generally the system works. Food is safe; we can make informed decisions. There are some areas that require some clarification. We look at those in the “Product of Canada” case. You want to grow your manufacturing base; you want to grow your farming base. What are some of the policies and programs you can bring into play that will help do that?
The system works. There are a couple of areas that don't work too well. One is import control, where you want to make sure that everybody is playing by the same rules as you are and you want to help consumers make important decisions.
Bloc
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am honoured to meet you. One question keeps coming up and I wonder if someone may have already put it to you.
I hail from Abitibi-Témiscamingue, a partly agricultural region to the north. In the Témiscamingue region, you will find many growers and producers of local products such as honey, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackcurrant preserves.
The question I get from my constituents is why is it still possible in Canada to affix a “Made in Canada” label on beans, blueberries and honey that come from heaven knows were. I support having special regulations in place for honey.
My constituents believe that the “Product of Canada” designation should be reserved for products that are either 100% or more than 75% home-grown. As far as I am concerned, it should be reserved for products that are 100% home-grown. As for the “Made in Canada” label, it can apply to products that come from a variety of countries, provided the product is packaged and sold here in Canada.
There is a problem if a product can bear the label “Product of Canada” when in reality 50% of the product comes from elsewhere. What I am supposed to say to my regional producers? What do you suggest I say to them?
President, Food Processors of Canada
I agree, and I think that's a perfect reason why we're here to discuss what “Product of Canada” means.
On the other hand, some of your producers may want to produce something that is not grown in the region from time to time, in between seasons, because you can only produce a three-month supply of anything in this country, maximum. This gives you the freedom to bring other products in and at least be able to say, look, I made it in my own plant.
I agree, and that's why we're having the conversation. “Product of Canada” is up for evaluation. Should it be 50%, 60%, or 100%?
Marc Lemay Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
I am putting the question to both of you. Don't ask me. As far as I'm concerned, 80% or more of the product should originate in Canada. Are you saying that the percentage should be 42%, 44%, 48% or 51%? Are you alright with the current situation? What is it you want? Do you want the percentage to be as low as possible?
President, Food Processors of Canada
No, I wouldn't say the least possible percentage. The industry has grown up around 51% for 20 or 30 years. If we're going to change it, then let's change it to something rational, thoughtful, and also reward other companies in rural regions and cities that make a multiplicity of products, not just products from Canada, because you also want manufacturing jobs in this country. You want farms jobs and you want plant jobs as well. I don't know whether it should be 60% or 100%. I suspect that 100% is way too strict.
I think you also want to take into account what a product of Canada is. If you grow it in Canada, do you have to subtract the imported pesticides, fertilizers, seeds, or the imported cans?
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I have one more question.
Earlier, some people said that this could make the labelling process more confusing and that more choices are not what is needed. To my way of thinking, people don't need more choices, but rather clearer choices.
A number of years ago, labels did not identify product content. No other information was provided. Today, labels list the number of calories and the amount of calcium, indicate whether or not the product contains any trans fats and provides a detailed breakdown of the ingredients. Today's consumers are very well informed and read labels in order to make healthy choices. The difference is obvious when you consider the healthy selections people make at the grocery store and the choices they make when they eat out in a restaurant, which is not required to provide this information. Restaurants often promote low-calorie menu selections, but fail to provide details about other higher-fat menu items.
Regulations that call for clear labelling and content information can only benefit consumers, who can then make enlightened choices. Indeed, consumer can make healthy choices if labels clearly list all product ingredients.
Detailed labels would enable consumers to make choices that would help keep jobs in the community and support local producers and processors.
Would you agree with that statement?
President, Food Processors of Canada
I agree, but I have a couple of points.
Society continues to get more and more sophisticated, and we change the rules to accommodate people. You can go to restaurants today and you can ask if it has cheese or you can say, I'm allergic to this or that, and they can tell you, whereas they couldn't have told you when I was a kid. Is this low calorie? How many grams of fat? Many restaurants do that now just as a societal thing. You don't want an overload of information. You want the right amount of information, because I think Mr. Fruitman is right, people aren't going to spend a lot of time. They want the information quickly. You want a quick question.
You also pointed out something that's very complicated, in that 40% of the food is eaten outside of the home, in restaurants. How many of us put up our hand and ask if it's Canadian made? We don't, but I think you're right, we should be able to make the informed decision. So you can ask the restaurateur, where did the pork came from? What you're saying here is, when I buy a package, where is the pork from?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Merci beaucoup. I think we've gone around on this.
I really appreciate your expert testimony today. It's going to help us shape our report and recommendations to the House, and ultimately both ministers responsible for food labelling, on how we move forward with this “Product of Canada”.
We are getting a common theme that what we have needs to be changed. I do appreciate the comments that we have to keep it simple and understandable and not have any more confusion out there. People expect “Product of Canada” to be just that. We need to find that balance as we move through the study.
Thank you very much.
With that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.
