Agriculture Committee on Dec. 16th, 2010

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Mr. Richards, you still have a half-minute or so.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Thank you.

You mentioned wheat in terms of western Canada, and obviously one of the challenges in western Canada when it comes to wheat is that the Wheat Board is no help to western farmers for that particular crop because of the fact that they lose the opportunity to market it to international markets.

I also wanted to give Ms. Sharratt a chance to respond to something from the other side. Certainly the example of canola is one that is put out there as a success story. Over 90% of the canola--

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

You have to be quick, Mr. Richards.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

--in Canada is from GM varieties. There have obviously been all kinds of benefits to our farmers from canola. It really has been, by all accounts, a success story. I would just be interested in hearing how you would respond to that. You certainly seem to be of the point of view that we shouldn't be looking at GM types of varieties. How would you respond to the great success story that canola has been?

[Lucy Sharratt]

Certainly we would ask if a lot of the success of canola in Canada is due not to the GE trait of herbicide tolerance but in fact to the quality of the varieties. This is actually an issue, because you have companies that own some of the best germplasm that are incorporating GE traits, and with canola there's no access to that germplasm without its being twinned with a GE trait. So the success of canola can be seen actually outside of the GE trait.

This is also why we would be concerned about wheat. The largest seed and biotechnology corporation in the world, Monsanto--but also others--has pledged to develop GE in wheat, and that's of course because it's a world staple crop. So even if the world doesn't want it--and there is protest in Australia from farmers and consumers about this ongoing wheat pressure--these are the world's staple crops and ancient grains that farmers use around the world to feed their communities. If the best germplasm becomes owned by those companies and twinned with GE, then there will be a diminishment, perhaps, of choice for farmers.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Thank you very much.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of information here, because I think the wrong impression was left by Mr. Richards.

If the Wheat Board is so wrong, then how come 80% of the directors elected--eight out of the ten farmer-elected directors--were pro-board?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Well, we're not going to get into the Wheat Board now.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Results just came in last Saturday. So stop the condemnation of the Wheat Board. Farmers have spoken, and they said they want the board.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Okay.

Almost everybody in this committee has asked a question except Mr. Storseth, so you've got the last five minutes. Let's tidy it up. This is the last question of the year. It's going to be a dandy.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Can I ask one more question after he's done?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Well, if the committee agrees, we'll keep going.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

That's as long as it doesn't take away from my time, nor Wayne's partisan intervention.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you guys very much for coming today.

Just to follow up, Ms. Sharratt, on your comments, according to the other comments that you made in regard to Mr. Atamanenko's bill, would not the success of canola for western Canadian producers also be owing to price and to markets available to them as well?

[Lucy Sharratt]

Well, certainly we would look at the problem of organic grain farmers actually losing canola as a market and rotation crop, which caused them economic harm. These are the same farmers who then used flax in their rotation, and it was contaminated--

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

I'm sorry; I only have five minutes.

Mr. Richards asked about the success of canola. Canola has been a success to western Canadian farmers. Other than the scientific argument, which you did a good job in discussing, would you not also attribute part of its success to the price and the availability of markets to our farmers out west as well?

[Lucy Sharratt]

Sure. Farmers would know what that is in terms of a market crop.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Exactly. It's one of the best marketable crops, especially since wheat isn't available because the western Canadian Wheat Board stifles that availability of marketing.

In fact, when we talk about wheat and about genetically modified products and science-based research, a lot of the research into wheat and different wheat varieties has to be done in the United States, even when it's western Canadian and Saskatchewan researchers who are developing it. We've had them before committee before, and they say that because the Wheat Board doesn't allow them to introduce the best varieties to western Canadian farmers, it inhibits their ability to grow it, which has led to the decrease of wheat as a crop availability to many of the farmers in my area.

The importance of genetics is a very interesting discussion. I've got a lot of cow and calf guys in my area, and genetics are incredibly important to the sales that we do to Australia and to other developing countries in the world when it comes to these kinds of markets, and these are countries that we're competing against. In my area we had five or six years of drought before we got any rain at all this year in eastern Alberta, and I've got to tell you that without more vigorous strains of canola and every other kind of product out there, a lot of my guys say they would not be getting the yields they're currently getting, which goes to their farm income. A lot of my guys are telling me that without the genetically modified canola and the other varieties that allow them to have zero till and also increase their yield, they would not be able to survive.

I would ask Mr. Hepworth to respond. Do you agree with that?

Second, because I will be running out of time, I'd like you to also talk about the role of science and how important it is to our agricultural producers.

You can answer those two questions, but I'll also put in a comment. Organic farmers make a choice. We have to respect that choice and try to find ways in which we can respect that choice and not inhibit their ability to grow organically, but at the same time, the vast majority of my farmers—

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Mr. Storseth, I'm giving you a suggestion that you should get your questions in, because—

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Oh, I have them in. I'm just trying to—

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Give yourself time.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

I appreciate that. I have the questions in--

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

I've stopped the clock. It's okay.