Mr. Chairman?
Evidence of meeting #20 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 programs.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #20 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 programs.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:55 p.m.
Member, Atlantic Grains Council
I'd like to just make a quick comment on that.
In Atlantic Canada, bad as it is, where father and son or father and daughter take a business plan approach and look at the thing on the whole farm, if the economic opportunity is there, the young people are coming in. Even with things as bad as they are, where the family sits down and looks at the opportunities and what kind of business they're in, people are entering the business. It's not altogether doom and gloom.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Larry Miller
You're echoing Mr. Toews' comments on that.
Mr. Rousseau, you have five minutes.
December 15th, 2011 / 4:55 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I would like to hear what each of you has to say about something specific. Are business risk management programs compatible with the current market openness, market globalization, in all agricultural sectors?
Is the industry not being exposed to greater pressure in terms of risk management programs and to the possibility of funds running out in the long term?
I would like to hear Mr. Delaney's comments first, please.
5 p.m.
Member, Atlantic Grains Council
You have a lineup to see who wants to start with that one.
5 p.m.
Member, Atlantic Grains Council
The only way that could happen is if prices go into the tank and everything fails at once.
When you're talking about international trade, maybe in an ideal world, the only way we're ever going to get a level playing field is if everybody withdraws their support, like New Zealand and some of these other countries in the grain business have. But that's not liable to happen.
On the one hand, what it comes down to is the province with the poorest treasury is the first to go. On the other hand, the provinces and the federal government want to support their producers. I agree with some of the other comments that have been made, that the solution comes down to trade.
But we even have predatory trade in our own country. It's difficult to understand how a region can offer incentives to a jurisdiction, and then they can just arbitrarily have access to that province's market, or even to an adjacent province's market. It's complicated.
5 p.m.
Executive Director, National Farmers Union
That's part of the point I've been making. I don't know how it's sustainable in the long run. There could be a point where taxpayers decide they just don't want to shovel out that kind of money.
I would also argue that it's a system that's propping up an unsustainable system. We just talked about young farmers getting involved, but what about depopulation? Where have the young farmers gone? Why are they gone? That's another question in the young farmer issue, and I think it's all related to this topic.
5 p.m.
Second Vice-President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Just as you said that there could be that cross-industry disaster, in this present time we're looking at cross-industry prosperity. In times like this, I urge the government not to look at the times when there are going to be lower payments and say that there will be less need out there. We must maintain the payment levels we're at, so that when this time comes, it will be met.
5 p.m.
President, Canadian Cattlemen's Association
If I've understood the question correctly, you are asking if the increased trade and dependency on other global markets also poses an increased risk to our BRM programming.
5 p.m.
President, Canadian Cattlemen's Association
I would suggest that as we receive more access to foreign markets and high-value markets around the world, our dependency on BRM programming is going to decrease. Certainly the cattle industry is an example of that, as we're now entering a phase of increased market access opportunity. In my view, we're entering a phase where our industry will be standing on its own two feet moving forward. I see them as compatible, and I see market access opportunity as critical.
I do need to add that this government, particularly Minister Ritz, has certainly championed market access on our behalf.
5 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Perfect.
My next question is for Mr. Banack.
Do you think that the way things are done in our agricultural industry must be modernized, especially when it comes to business management and accounting? I am mostly referring to family farms. Should we separate producers' management and accounting systems and use collective management in certain sectors?
5 p.m.
Second Vice-President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Collective accounting, as I best understand this.... It's very important for us to look at each individual farm as it stands on its own. Each farmer's decisions, as he goes forward through the years, are important to that operation.
If we come to a point in time where we make collective decisions across the board.... Everyone has to make their own decisions. Sometimes, it's whether to manage risk through private programs, whether it's to just rely on the base, on the bottom-end program.... If we go to a collective way of operating, we're going to have a hard time maintaining that individual spirit that's absolutely important to businesses in agriculture.
5:05 p.m.
NDP
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
I was asking....
whether we need to come up with collective management systems, especially in rural areas and small communities, in order to separate the management and administration of small family farms and reduce the pressure on producers.
5:05 p.m.
Executive Director, National Farmers Union
The way I would answer that is, yes, farmers need to.... Working together is how they're strongest. They're dealing with very powerful entities. It's fundamentally a question of market imbalance. That's what I think is a problem. That relates to the young farmer problem. There's the BRM issue, the fact that we are spending a lot on BRM. It isn't going away. Actually, it's been pretty stable and pretty high.
Working together and thinking about how we want to sustain our rural communities forces us to confront some of the fundamental questions that I think we're avoiding.