Evidence of meeting #41 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 bees.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
9:05 a.m.
Bloc
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Chairman, I would like to talk about the agenda. Usually notices of motion are dealt with at the end of meetings, just in case the debates on the motions last for quite a while. Some witnesses came here today in order to speak to us about their bee-keeping industry.
I would request unanimous consent from the committee to change the agenda and hear the presentations before discussing the motions, as we often do out of respect not only for the committee's work, but also for the people who travel here.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I don't have difficulty with that as long as we ensure we have time for the motion, because if you recall, we were supposed to deal with the motion at the beginning of the last meeting and we couldn't because of the translation. So providing that we allow half an hour, or whatever you think is fair time, at the end of the meeting, we're in agreement with that.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Okay.
It was Mr. Lauzon's request at the last meeting that this be the first order of business. But if there's consent--
Mr. St. Amand.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Lloyd St. Amand Liberal Brant, ON
It was probably just an inadvertent slip of the tongue on the part of Mr. Lauzon in talking about the motion--in the singular--being dealt with prior to the end of the meeting. He'll know that there are two motions on the agenda.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
There are three, actually. We have a housekeeping motion for witness expenses, then we have Mr. Lauzon's motion, and your motion, Mr. St. Amand.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Lloyd St. Amand Liberal Brant, ON
With that in mind, Mr. Chair, what do you propose, then, in terms of a cut-off time for the witnesses who are presenting?
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
What I'm going to suggest is that we have 45 minutes for each set of witnesses--first with the beekeepers, and then with the CFIA briefing on transportation issues in terms of running livestock. So it will probably be only one round of questions for each set of witnesses. Then we'll move right into the motions, if everybody's in agreement.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Lloyd St. Amand Liberal Brant, ON
I did hear 10:30 a.m., Mr. Miller. I was listening carefully, as were you.
9:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
With that, we'll change it so that committee business drops down to the third item on the agenda.
Moving up to the second item, we're going to do our hearing on the bee industry issues. Joining us from the Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec, we have Jean-François Doyon, who is the president, and Diane Caron.
Welcome, both of you. I would ask that you keep your opening comments to 10 minutes or less. I will indicate if you are running over that time.
The floor is yours.
9:05 a.m.
Jean-François Doyon President, Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec
Thank you.
Given that we come from Quebec and that our mother tongue is French, I will make my opening remarks in French, if that is not a problem for you. I will start by describing the situation of the bee-keeping industry in Quebec. I will also make some recommendations.
The Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec was established in 1979, its mission is to advocate for the economic and social interests of its members. The federation is in fact the main lever of the bee-keeping sector in Quebec. Its goals consist in providing support and assistance to producers in Quebec in order to sustain and develop a bee-keeping industry that has the tools it needs to face current and future challenges within its environment and its sector.
In 2003, we suffered losses due to the varroa parasite. Since then, beekeepers have had to continue to adapt to new work methods in order to remain competitive. In 2007, there was another very significant loss of bees due to the varroa parasite and other factors that further aggravated an already precarious situation, which led to a decrease in our stocks. The difficult task of constantly rebuilding our stocks of bees undermines the development of bee-keeping and its ability to flourish. These problems have occurred in Quebec and throughout Canada. This is a major problem for the whole country.
In the spring of 2008, there was better news about bee losses than the past few years. Despite a rather hard winter, the colonies were relatively healthy in the spring. We hope that this will continue, with mother nature's permission.
The colony collapse disorder (CCD), has caused enormous losses in the United States. We don't think it is in Quebec or in Ontario. However, veterinarians are strongly advising us to report any suspicious diseases. In Quebec, we have about 30,000 bee colonies. Normally, our potential would be around 50,000 and 60,000 colonies. There is a very strong demand for pollination, for example, for blueberries in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region, as well as for other small fruits, vegetables and cranberries.
Approximately 40% of the food supply is linked to bees, directly or indirectly. If one extrapolates, one could even include dairy producers who provide their animals with legumes that have been pollinated by bees. In Quebec, the economic benefits are about $150 million for various crops, and there are 780 to $800 million per year for Canada. These are not insignificant numbers.
The main problems we are facing in Quebec are these: insufficient marketing and labelling, as well as diseases. For two years, the federation has been trying to organize this sector with joint plans and with 100% Quebec honey certification, in order to find solutions to the various problems that Quebec beekeepers face. Quebec produces approximately 20 to 25% of the honey it consumes. Usually, there are between 700,000 and one million pounds of honey annually in beekeepers warehouses. This is ridiculous. We can't have these kinds of honey surpluses when we're only producing 20% of what we're consuming.
The main problems that came out of our consultations with producers were mainly linked to bee health: viruses, diseases, parasites, and so on.
The price of honey is an equally important problem: foreign honey coming into Canada is significantly cheaper than the Canadian cost of production. For example, in Quebec, we produce honey at a cost of $1.75 per pound, whereas Argentinian honey coming into Canada costs 85¢ a pound.
Current labeling does not indicate the true provenance of the products that have been purchased. There has been a lot of debate around the label « Canada No. 1 » and this debate continues. This label is often on the front of the container but it is simply an indication of grade not of origin. On the back of the container, in very small letters it might say « Product of Argentina » or « contains some Canadian honey », but without a magnifying glass, you cannot read these words. This is misleading to the consumer. We are therefore asking the Government of Canada to show leadership on the issue of labelling.
A door recently opened after several representations from the agricultural sector were made. However, the work has to continue. As I mentioned, the label « Canada No. 1 » is a grading category. Something has to be done about this.
With respect to the environment, unfortunately we can only note that bees are encountering more and more problems; they are sending us some very troubling messages. More and more, diseases, viruses and malnutrition are daily problems. The environment is deteriorating and we all know that if there are no more bees, we will soon have a food shortage. Coated seeds, transgenic seeds, and other issues are a big problem for us. Monoculture and biofuels are not helpful either: there are less and less honey-producing plants that the bees can use to make their honey. If bees do not make honey, they will not have the food they need to develop. If we lose the bees, we lose the whole cycle of pollination, which would have very significant consequences for agriculture in Quebec and Canada.
Research is helping producers find solutions to theses situations that are becoming more and more frequent within the Quebec beekeeping industry. Often it is a series of factors that weaken, or infect people and plants, and because of this the federation is involved with various partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Quebec (MAPAQ), the SEDAC and the Centre de recherche en sciences animales in Deschambault (CRESAD). Researchers often make research applications. It is the federation that looks for the necessary funding for this.
We are considering a joint plan that would make all beekeepers who are benefiting from the research realize that they all have to pay for this research. There are approximately 375 beekeepers in Quebec. Our federation represents between 175 and 200 beekeepers who pay contributions for the purposes of research, however everyone benefits.
In Quebec, we are fortunate enough to have a research centre with an experimental hive. I am certain that this is the only experimental beekeeping centre in all of Canada with its own hives. Some of the hives in the experimental centre at Deschambault belong to our Federation. That gives a considerable amount of flexibility to the researchers and it has been made possible thanks to the efforts of partners such as the CRESAD, MAPAQ and the Federation.
With its financial support programs, we believe that the federal government can make access easier to beekeeping researchers and make beekeeping a priority. The federal government must ensure that the agencies responsible for registering pesticides and authorizing their use, work in collaboration with the beekeeping sector. Concrete action is urgent so that pollinating insects, including bees, can be protected. The very existence of several agricultural sectors depends on this, including beekeeping.
We are also working with the Union des producteurs agricoles on a food sovereignty project. This is a project that is important for the whole agricultural sector in Quebec and Canada. We also believe that the new government can help by enforcing the strict food inspection and labelling roles. The food crisis makes the food sovereignty project even more important because it makes countries aware of the importance of having a productive and strong agricultural sector.
Thank you for your interest in the beekeeping situation in Quebec. Bees are an important component of agriculture in general and through their work, they provide us with healthy and natural products. It is essential for them to be protected and governments, through their messages, programs, actions and legislation, can contribute to protecting bees and pollinators in general. Their extension would lead to the disappearance or scarcity of several fruits, vegetables and plants. There could be major damage inflicted on the fauna and flora of the country.
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Thank you very much.
Mr. Easter, you have the floor first, for seven minutes.
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
9:20 a.m.
Liberal
9:20 a.m.
Liberal
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
And there may be enough time here for Robert as well.
First of all, on the labelling issue, Mr. Doyon, this committee has made a report that I hope will deal with a number of your problems in labelling. I am disappointed that the government has a dissenting report with it, but in any event, if you go through it and have any concerns, we'd certainly like to hear them.
Secondly, on the price of honey, you're right, and it's the same as with many other agricultural commodities: we see that we're not producing enough to meet domestic demand, yet prices are driven down mainly by imports.
Where are those imports coming from mainly? I understand a lot of product comes in from China. And is the reason it impacts negatively on our price regime that there's an entirely different environmental regime in China, and also a different labour standards and labour costs regime?
I guess I'll ask the second question at the same time. On the environmental side, I've heard it said that the bees are like the canary in a coal mine: they indicate trouble within our environment. I would ask you whether the United States or Europe is facing similar problems with their bee population.
9:20 a.m.
President, Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec
To answer your question on the canary and the goldmine, yes, this is a sign of global problems to come. If there are no longer any bees, there will be problems everywhere. Bees are the very basis of agriculture. Once they no longer exist, there will no longer be any pollination. There will then be a serious crisis and serious problems.
You spoke about imported honey, whether that be Argentinian or Chinese. Beekeepers in those countries do not work under the same conditions we do. They do not have the same food safety standards nor do they have the same production costs. Obviously, it is very difficult for us to produce honey at the same cost as Chinese or Argentinian producers, because of their salaries and quality standards.
In Canada we have very strict quality standards. In Quebec we produce between 20 and 25% of what we consume. On the other hand, Canada is an exporting country. It produces approximately 120% of what it consumes. Why are we exporting the honey that Canada produces while we're importing honey from Argentina? It boils down to cost. Are Canadians and Quebeckers willing to pay the price of quality-Canadian honey? The Americans are, whereas we are satisfied with Chinese, Argentinian or Australian honey at a lower cost. Should we not be raising the awareness of the consumer about the fact that what we produce is of a much higher quality than what is produced abroad? That is what we need to ask ourselves.