Agriculture Committee on Feb. 24th, 2015

[Debbie Zimmerman]

I think that's why, through the Canadian Vintners Association, they received some federal marketing dollars, but I think what we're trying to say is that rather than just the matching dollars we have.... I was pointing out why Ontario is putting in $75 million. That is not matching money. That is government money. We were looking for non-matching money in order to have a regular program, not something we have to apply for every year, but a dedicated fund we could go to and use as federal dollars for marketing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you very much, Mr. Zimmer.

Now I'll go to Madam Brosseau, please, for five minutes.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I wasn't expecting this at all. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

You're talking a lot about marketing and how important that is. The Province of Quebec does a lot of that. For les aliments d'ici, you can go into a grocery store and you can tell where the peppers are from. Peppers are probably not a good example; we don't grow peppers in Quebec, or maybe in greenhouses. For mushrooms and apples, you can tell exactly where the Quebec-produced food is, so it's about labelling and being able to tell consumers that they do have the choice: it's there, and if they want to buy local, buy Canadian, or buy Quebec, there it is.

A bill was put forward by my colleague Anne Quach that talked a lot about buying Canadian and buying locally, because there's such a movement, not just in cities but across Canada. People want to know where their food comes from. People want to meet the farmers. The bill was tabled in the House of Commons and debated. It's Bill C-539. It was proposed to help elaborate a pan-Canadian or buy Canadian strategy by working with the provinces, which is very important to do, but also to make sure there is procurement for federal institutions

. Is that something that would have been of help to you? I know that you'd probably want to look at the legislation—

[Debbie Zimmerman]

Absolutely.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

—before giving me your okay on it. Would that be something interesting for your industry?

[Debbie Zimmerman]

I think any procurement policy that encourages the purchase of Canadian product is good for Canada, so we would certainly be supportive of that. And whether or not we could get a choice for Canadian wine to be on national airlines, to ensure that any promotion that the Canadian government is involved with promotes Canadian wines—I know they do a great job already, having been there and seen the parliamentary dining room.

I know it's a focus, but we need to broaden that. We need consumers demanding our product so we can get the opportunity to sell more across Canada. If we're encouraging our domestic share to grow, it's going to be good for our industry. That's where we need some of this support in marketing dollars to a dedicated fund, because we do generate a lot of revenue for the Canadian economy through the value chain. So yes, any procurement that supports 100% Canadian grown, we'd be good with that.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I think that's it. I was caught off guard. Do you have anything you would like to add, some comments, closing remarks? Or I could share my time with one of my colleagues on our side.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

You could do that.

[Debbie Zimmerman]

Certainly, as I said earlier, I think this is a simple ask. While we want to break down interprovincial trade barriers, I think what we're asking for is a way to help do that, to put forward a strong marketing campaign for Canadians, and this Canada brand concept is important, I think. A stop-and-start campaign is not something you like to do in marketing. You need a continuous flow of marketing dollars to ensure that your brand is always going to be out there. Part of the problem, again, is in that agrimarketing program. It had to be national in scope, and a whole bunch of things needed to be done. I would think we're asking for a dedicated fund for our industry, because we are a revenue generator, and we think it's important that we can continue to grow. We have to fight for shelf space, there's no doubt about it, and we'll continue to do that, but we seem not to be able to have a leg-up in our own domestic market right now.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Thank you, Debbie.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Okay. Is there anything further?

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

No.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Folks, I don't know if you have a question.

You're next, Mr. Maguire, but we only have about a minute and a half.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Okay, I'll do it.

Ms. Brosseau just brought this up, I think. What kind of funds are the other provinces putting in compared to what Ontario is doing, and are there matching dollars from the industry there as well?

[Debbie Zimmerman]

Again, I know that B.C. has a robust program. We just received $75 million from the Ontario government, but that's an investment in marketing, in infrastructure. That means renewing vineyards and important things like technology to keep us whole through these cold winters. I'm not sure what Nova Scotia or Quebec put in. We work closely on viticultural issues. We have some challenges right now with getting a clean domestic root stock program from Canada. We have to buy all our vines from another country and we'd love to have a domestic industry even there.

I know B.C. has a tax structure through their liquor board system that is quite...I think it's an envy of probably a lot of countries, but it is something that is important for B.C. wines as well, so we applaud what they're doing there.

In terms of total dollars for marketing, I'm not sure.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you very much, Mr. Maguire.

Thank you very much, Ms. Zimmerman. I appreciate the time you've taken to be part of our study.

The bells are ringing.

With that, the meeting is adjourned, and I'll see you on Thursday.