Agriculture Committee on June 20th, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Welcome, everyone.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, May 30, 2018, the committee commences consideration of Bill C-281, an act to establish a national local food day.

We have the sponsor of the bill here, Mr. Wayne Stetski.

Welcome, Mr. Stetski.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

We shall give you the floor for your opening statement.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate your setting aside time today to do this on the last day of the session.

I'll keep my remarks very brief so that we can focus mostly on questions. I do believe you have a copy of my handout.

Simply put, food matters. It's at the heart of our culture, our economy, and our communities. A national local food day would provide an opportunity for all of us to recognize the hard work of the many producers, harvesters, manufacturers, restauranteurs, and others who put food on the table for Canadian families every single day. It would also give us an opportunity to reflect upon and raise awareness of the challenges many Canadians face in finding healthy, affordable food close to home and to take action to foster local food systems that work for everyone.

In working on this bill, I have had the great privilege of meeting with many producers, organizations, and individuals dedicated to local food. I've heard about well-loved Canadian products such as melons from Miner Heritage Farm in Shefford, maple rye ale from Cassel Brewery, and Strom's Farm pumpkins in Guelph. I continue to hear from Canadians across the country about just how important local food is to their families and to their communities. It would be a sad world without Laval's famous organic tomatoes or the locally caught fish from Richmond, B.C., or Arc en Ciel Farm's magnificent apples.

I understand the committee has received letters of support from a number of national and other stakeholder groups, and the clerk has distributed them. In addition, we have received letters of support, and we will be circulating these, from Food Secure Canada, the Canadian Meat Council, Restaurants Canada, and Turkey Farmers of Canada. They have submitted letters to us that we'll be happy to send on to the committee.

As I've said often, Bill C-281 is an easy bill to love, and I certainly hope that's true for the members sitting around this table. I'd also like to speak briefly about Food Day Canada, an event originally organized in 2003 as the world's longest barbecue. It is a private enterprise that coordinates dinners at about 31 restaurants nationally but has no provincial or federal recognition and no direct relationships with producers, farmer's markets, or other agricultural organizations across Canada—at least none that we have heard from. I believe there's lots of room to promote Canadian food in conjunction with Food Day Canada.

Whether it's Miramichi gold honey, Mégantic maple syrup, Rabbit River eggs, Haltwhistle cheese, Red Deer beef, or White Owl whisky, we all have food in our communities to be proud of and to celebrate.

I'm hopeful that, with your support, we can celebrate national local food day this fall.

I thank you again for having me here today and look forward to answering your questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you so much, Mr. Stetski.

Without being biased, being an organic food producer myself and belonging to a co-operative, the real local food co-operative that I was also a founding member of, I would certainly support that day in October when we could celebrate local food.

I'm sorry if I'm kind of biased, but that's where I stand.

Are there any comments or questions?

Mr. Longfield, the floor is yours.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you.

You're right. It is hard not to love a local food initiative.

I've talked with Anita Stewart at Food Day Canada as well. Guelph and Wellington have a local food initiative called Taste Real, which has a tourism initiative attached to it. In terms of the bill, the one thing I'd like to see is coordinating with other local food initiatives across Canada, so that we're not duplicating and maybe we're enhancing the local food initiatives. I'm not sure it needs to be in the bill, but I think it would be in the spirit of what you're doing to try to build on what is already out there in the network in Canada.

I'm really interested in the Taste Real group. They're quite active in Guelph. I was a member of their organizing and planning committees back when they first got going, as well. I'm sure there are other local food initiatives in Canada that could benefit from this, and we need to make sure we're not isolating ourselves as a federal government by stepping in and doing something that other people are doing really well.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Yes, absolutely. There have been many different food initiatives going on across Canada. I think what makes this bill important is that it gives everybody—every riding, every member of Parliament, and every senator—the opportunity to celebrate the local food in their communities, and indeed, to celebrate Food Day Canada.

Again, I don't know whether that needs to be in the bill or not, because there are many initiatives that we've seen from across the country. We'd like to celebrate all of them, and we encourage members to celebrate local food initiatives and food initiatives in every riding across the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Stetski.

Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Stetski. thank you very much for introducing this bill. It was not at all hard to get the Conservative caucus to support it. All my colleagues were really delighted with the idea of celebrating local food.

In each of our regions, those close to the producers, those who see them working day after day, sometimes get the impression that city-dwellers do not realize the importance of buying products from places located as close as possible to where they live. This is a wonderful initiative.

If members in the House move quickly and reach an agreement to pass the bill, the first National Local Food Day would be next October 5. Until very recently, I was thinking that October would be one of the most beautiful months in 2018 because of that, but we have just learned that marijuana will become legal on October 17. That reduces my desire to see the month of October come along.

However, I really wanted to tell you that you have done good work, You consulted a number of groups. Many people have written to us in support of this initiative. In my constituency, I have received many very positive comments after the various speeches in the House on Bill C-281.

I jokingly said that there are a lots of turkey producers in your constituency and they were going to be very happy that National Local Food Day is being celebrated in Thanksgiving week, but that the turkeys would be a little less happy. This is a fine initiative.

I really have no questions to ask. I just wanted to tell you that we support the bill. I commend your desire and your will to make this happen, to establish this day recognizing local producers.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

Mr. Stetski, do you want to respond to that?

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

It was really interesting, during the speeches that were given in the House in support of Bill C-281, to hear the range of food being produced in all of the different ridings from the individuals who chose to speak. It really made me want to do a cross-Canada tour, so I could come to all of your ridings and celebrate the great local food that you have.

We particularly picked the Friday before Thanksgiving so that we could celebrate local food on the Friday, and then eat it on Sunday. I think that's partly why the Turkey Farmers of Canada have also jumped on board. It's a good fit for them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Stetski and Monsieur Berthold.

Mr. Drouin, do you have any comments?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr Chair.

I too thank you very much for introducing this bill, Mr. Stetski.

I also have the good fortune to live in a constituency where there are turkey producers. So it is possible for me to celebrate, several days in advance, with everything found on a plate at a typical Thanksgiving dinner. However, I know that in other regions of Canada, that is not possible. With this bill, I hope that we will be able to highlight the importance of local food and the importance of growing food locally, even in the places where that is more difficult. I am thinking specifically of Canada's north.

I want to congratulate you and would appreciate you staying with us longer, though the House is going to adjourn its work today.

Thank you very much for this fine initiative, Mr. Stetski.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

I know it's been, from our perspective, just wonderful to see the growth in things like farmers' markets in my riding and across the country. I'll use Cranbrook as a quick example. Ten years ago there was no farmers' market and now over $1 million goes through that farmers' market every summer, and that's true for pretty much everywhere there is a farmers' market across Canada.

The interest in food security is growing as well, and it is important to keep food security in mind. The best way to have food security is to grow your food locally.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Stetski.

Mr. MacGregor.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I don't know if I can be so formal with a caucus colleague, so Wayne, I'll just say congratulations on getting to this stage. I think you picked a perfect day when people are putting together their shopping lists and thinking more about what's grown locally, which they will then put on their tables for Thanksgiving. You have tremendous support across the board from all the heavy hitters in the agricultural community, and I'm prepared to move on and to vote on the clauses of this bill.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

Mr. Peschisolido.

[Joe Peschisolido, Liberal, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Chair, thank you.

Mr. Stetski, I too would like to say congratulations. This is good because it shows that we can do many types of agriculture. Local food is important, but it's not just for farmers' markets. It's not just for the “foodsters”. You can have a regional food system with surpluses and have a pretty good economic power in exporting food, so Wayne, I'd like to commend you.

As I mentioned, we're going to be having an event at Kwantlen Polytechnic by someone I always refer to in this committee, Kent Mullinix, who is in charge of the agriculture department. I'd love to have you there. We'll be talking about regional food systems.

Mr. Chair, I'd like to end by saying, Wayne, great work. I look forward to clause-by-clause.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

If I may, I've certainly heard from my constituents and from people across Canada about how great it is to see Parliament come together, all supporting an initiative that's good for Canada. It is a very positive way to finish the session. Everyone has been very supportive, and I thank you so much for that.

In the end, I think all of our constituents will benefit from having a national local food day.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Mr. Dreeshen.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Thank you very much.

I too congratulate you, Wayne. As someone who has actually had a private member's bill go through the process, I know how significant it is. I know you must be proud, and the folks who have worked with you as well.

First of all, you had me at Red Deer beef. I noticed that. I think the key thing is that there are so many generations, unfortunately, that are away from the farm. People have stopped understanding what growing food, processing food, and selling food is all about. If this is an opportunity—and I hope that everyone will look at this as an opportunity—to respect those who are on the land, the true environmentalists, one hopes this will help in that awareness,

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

I have just a quick story. The first employment I ever had—I lived in a small farming town in Saskatchewan—was picking rocks and baling hay. I tell people that when I'm shaving in the morning, I still think of a swather going through a field, so I have pretty deep farming roots.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Are there any other comments or questions?

We shall go to clause-by-clause consideration.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of clause 1, the short title, and of the preamble, is postponed.

I therefore call clause 2.

(Clause 2 is carried.)

(Clause 3 is carried.)

Shall the short title carry?

[Some Hon. Members]

Agreed.