Evidence of meeting #17 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was producers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Should we have a more robust...? Maybe I'll ask Mr. Brennan.
4:25 p.m.
Chairman, Potatoes New Brunswick
Yes, I think that's where you're going. You're going back to where you were with crop insurance with NISA pre-2003. Most farmers were quite happy with that, except that it was a triggering mechanism. Of course, there's also the reluctance of some farmers to trigger it. That's their problem. They had the money there; it was their choice. I guess it's not a bad idea at all. It deserves some thought. It's about choices here, I agree. We can't expect that more is going to be the answer. I acknowledge that.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Regional Administrator, B.C. Breeder and Feeder Association
No, I was just listening for the same thoughts in what they're discussing. It's like reshuffling the deck—that's pretty much what you're saying.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I don't know if I would call it reshuffling the deck. I'm talking about optimizing certain programs and diminishing others that you feel aren't working. It's not a little bit of this and little bit of that. I'm talking about big changes here and big changes there. Will that serve you better?
4:25 p.m.
Regional Administrator, B.C. Breeder and Feeder Association
It depends on what the changes are going to be and in what programs. It isn't something that we can decide today. The world is changing so fast, and things are moving so quickly that we need to get a group closer to the provinces. Not every province is the same, either. That's another thing. We're very different from one side of the province to the other.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Would you rather see a stronger AgriInvest and a stronger insurance program, or an insurance program for livestock—which you don't have right now—instead of an AgriStability?
4:30 p.m.
Regional Administrator, B.C. Breeder and Feeder Association
We've been asking for that for a long time for the cattle. It's never come up for discussion the way you are talking about it today. That would work better for a lot of us, yes.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
My first question is addressed to Mr. Béland.
You said that maintaining supply management was essential and that countries that abandoned this system had to help farmers by financing various programs.
Could you explain in more detail why it is essential to maintain it and what is the cost of maintaining it compared with the cost of the various programs?
4:30 p.m.
Member, Board of Directors, Éleveurs de volailles du Québec
Currently, the supply management system does not cost the community or the state much of anything. There are some small supply management programs, but they are minor and do not represent any significant amount.
In Europe for example, some countries abandoned milk supply management. Their system was equivalent to our supply management system. After they abandoned it, the price for the producers dropped, while the consumers did not receive any economic advantage. Moreover, the consumers, through their taxes, had to subsidize dairy farms and find a way to save them, especially in France, Germany and Belgium. The consumers could not benefit from the elimination of supply management, and the producers found themselves in a difficult situation. That really did not help the farm transfer, it did not help anyone.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
4:30 p.m.
Member, Board of Directors, Éleveurs de volailles du Québec
Absolutely. The only farms that required less aid were the ones located close to plants. Therefore, the farms could not spread throughout the country, as is the case with our dairy, poultry and egg farms, which are present throughout the country. That was the drawback that arose.
For example, there was concern about supply management in the country when the slaughtering of turkeys stopped in the maritime provinces, in Nova Scotia. Obviously, the production took place in central Canada. However, our concerns arose from the fact that the slaughtering of turkeys in Nova Scotia was necessary to cover the entire country. If this activity is stopped in one province, one could ask which province will be next, or what activity will be next. Moreover, we no longer have an argument for or the economic advantage of being present everywhere in the country. This is why maintaining supply management is important for everyone.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
If I am not mistaken, you are not affected by the AgriStability program and all this. You do not need this since you have a supply management system.
4:30 p.m.
Member, Board of Directors, Éleveurs de volailles du Québec
We need the AgriStability system in case of a disaster. During such times, the program could help. We have not needed it so far since the program was set up after the crisis in British Columbia. We need this program in case anything happens. We promoted this program a lot in Quebec but an insufficient number of producers registered. This is a risk issue. Disasters are very rare in poultry production, but they can occur. It has already happened.
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Béland.
My next question is addressed to Mr. Brennan.
You said that you exported most of your production to the United States. You indicated that we had to pay attention to regional differences and adapt the programs to the specific situations of certain regions.
Do you think that many direct and indirect jobs are lost because of the lack of awareness regarding this diversity?
4:30 p.m.
Chairman, Potatoes New Brunswick
Yes, perhaps.... More diversity is better than less diversity. As I said, up until very recently, we were very dependent on one crop to make the business flow. That is changing and it's changing slowly. I think that's an improvement because any time we depend on one thing.... Again, I've heard people complain about multi-enterprise operations not affecting how they can access some of this AgriStability. I think that's okay because the diversity is helping to manage the risk, and that's a good thing.
That's like a question a while ago. We don't want to do things in programs that discourage the market from operating as it should. Sometimes we found in our sector that if buyers know there is coverage for farmers' costs to some degree, they will perhaps not be as inclined to pay as much as they might otherwise be, because they realize they've got to pay enough to keep that farmer in business. When you get a concentrated supply chain, sometimes it can affect how the market works.
4:35 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Would you say that diversity can help when it comes to exporting certain products or certain types of production?
4:35 p.m.
Chairman, Potatoes New Brunswick
Yes, for sure. Again, with most crops, processing is a critical part of the market. You must have enough critical mass and volume to warrant a processing sector. Of course, in the potato industry we have been very fortunate to have that. For other crops, I know they're looking to plants in Quebec for canola, soybeans, and those kinds of things, to do that. But diversity is a good thing, and diversity in all crops in all sectors is positive. I do think it helps mitigate risk and helps reduce the cost of the overall operation.
Am I getting to what you want?
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Thank you, Chair.
I hope the committee will indulge me for a few moments. I have a few guests here, two from my riding and one from Mr. Dreeshen's riding. They are the Mayor of Foremost, Alberta, Ken Kultgen. He's also a farmer in the riding. Sitting next to him is John Turcato, who is also a farmer in the riding at Taber. You may recall that John was one of the farmers who went to jail on the wheat board issue, when he tried to sell some of his grain. Next to John is Jim Chatenay, who was the former director of the Canadian Wheat Board, in Mr. Dreeshen's riding. He also went to jail for trying to donate some grain.
Anyway, I just thought I would introduce those gentlemen.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Anyway, I think it was nice for those gentlemen to be here. Both John and Jim are actually going to the Senate committee hearing in the next 10 minutes or so, to speak on Bill C-18.
I thank you for your indulgence, Chair, and members.
Now to get down to the business here of the committee, we have heard a number of times about red tape and forms and so on. I'll open up the following question to anybody. Do you see any opportunity to reduce the red tape and the forms in any of the applications you might use, for the organizations you represent, in terms of trying to collect any business management programs or AgriInvest? Are there any areas where you see an opportunity to reduce red tape or forms to help out the farmers in your organizations?
This is open to anybody.
