Evidence of meeting #5 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was europe.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Right. I know the largest purchaser of Canadian beef is McDonald's. I know some of the fast-food chains are—
5:25 p.m.
Chief Marketing Officer, A & W Foodservices of Canada Inc., Chair of the Board of Directors , Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
We're trying to catch up.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
That's what my next question is. What is the percentage of Canadian to other nations in terms of product, in terms of pork and beef?
5:25 p.m.
Chief Marketing Officer, A & W Foodservices of Canada Inc., Chair of the Board of Directors , Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
I'm in the marketing and operations side. I don't have the percentages, unfortunately, to share with you. What I can say is that you might have recently seen that we've made some changes to our beef supply, with a view to really changing and diversifying the Canadian beef industry. We've been in dialogue with Canadian ranchers and we've been really delighted with the response. Although we thought we had reached out to a lot of ranchers and a lot of Canadian farmers and thought we had done a pretty good job, when we actually put our ads on TV we had in the first week 27 different ranchers contact us to ask how to become part of the program. That has continued.
I'd say that whatever number I could give you today, it will be greater tomorrow and even bigger the year after.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Thank you.
A question for Jean. Thank you for coming to committee again. You've been here a few times and it's good to see you back.
I had a question from a constituent of mine who wants to know if the imported pork ribs that we bring into Canada are hormone-free. Would you know that?
5:25 p.m.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
In the pork industry, there are no hormones. There never have been. None.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
5:25 p.m.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
Globally, hormones are not used in raising hogs. Hogs are raised without hormones. Hormones do not exist in the pork industry.
5:25 p.m.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
In Canada.
I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but I have no knowledge of hormones being used in raising hogs.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
We've seen the pork industry ride some pretty low valleys at times and struggle with market forces. We see this as a new opportunity for pork producers. The question I have for you is, how long will it take you to ramp up to what Europe is going to want from Canada in terms of pork? For your producers to reach their capacity, how many years is that going to take? I'm sure that's a challenge you're willing to take on, but what do you see as the timeline for you to be ready?
5:25 p.m.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
Yes, we are ready to export to European markets. You have to understand that we are currently exporting to a number of markets, including unstable ones. The Canada-Europe agreement will allow access to stable markets for Canadian producers and for Canadian industry. This is a market of 500 million people. So the European market offers a great opportunity. We are up to the task of supplying that market.
Producers will probably move away from some less lucrative, less profitable markets and move towards countries with more profit potential for them. For example, the negotiations between Canada and Japan are very important for Canadian producers. That market has existed for 40 or 50 years. We have been working with the Japanese for 50 years. It is a demanding market, but Canada has to keep a market that is so lucrative. But we will move away from other markets that are less stable, more difficult or where agreements are less reliable.
In a word, the Canada-Europe agreement is very important for our industry.
5:30 p.m.
Conservative
5:30 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Pork Council
To Mr. Preston, I don't know where Darcy gets his numbers and I'll have to talk to him, but our calculation would be about 1 million hogs rather than 8 million from that European market.
5:30 p.m.
Conservative
5:30 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Pork Council
But we do associate that with 5,000 jobs, direct jobs, permanent jobs, plus the induced effect of that additional export. So $400 million would convert very easily into $1 billion in terms of additional economic activity.
5:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bev Shipley
Thank you very much.
I want to thank the witnesses for coming out and keeping on time.
I also thank the members for that. See you Thursday.
The meeting is adjourned.
