Agriculture Committee on June 20th, 2018

[Fred Gorrell]

I have to say that I didn't prepare for that question. That was a good one.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

It just popped into my head.

[Fred Gorrell]

I'll start by saying that the Japanese are very science-based. That's why they're very rigorous in how they look at it. We have a high level of comfort with the Japanese and how they look at things.

Right now, in all of the cases we've had—I lived through the BSE “era”, if we may call it that, as well—the Japanese have been very systematic in how they ask their questions. We've never had problems with their being capricious or non science-based.

Relative to TPP, there is a dispute resolution mechanism in it, and I think ratified, that could be, if they took a non scientific-based approach, like a non-tariff barrier. Quite frankly, though, the way the Japanese work, and have worked to date, I don't think that would be a specific concern in this instance.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thanks.

The last comment or question I have is this. One thing I'm surprised by is the number of comments and emails I have from Canadians themselves who are unaware that we do not have GM wheat in Canada. We don't produce it. We don't sell it or export it. I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile for CFIA, maybe in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to do an awareness campaign about what we actually produce, what is GM, and what is exported. I'm really surprised that it's still an issue out there.

I would just make the comment that it might be a way for us to show some support of our industry now in terms of how this has gone through. We stand behind a very strong regulatory regime. We stand behind our producers. I think this is a good opportunity to make that awareness campaign.

[Fred Gorrell]

Communicating with Canadians and others is always something we are doing. Clarity about what we grow and produce in Canada, and how we do it, is something we are always striving to do at the agriculture department and CFIA.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Barlow and Mr. Gorrell.

Mr. MacGregor, you have up to three minutes, if you wish.

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

Thank you.

This is not really a question but more of a comment. When we as a committee were doing our trip across the country studying technology and innovation, we were looking at gene editing, which is really coming to the forefront. Some comparisons were made between the rollout of GMO versus gene editing.

Just piggybacking on Mr. Barlow's comment, with gene editing you're not really inserting foreign DNA. You're trying to stress certain beneficial traits of the same sequence. In terms of public relations and how we inform the public, I'm sure you're very well aware of the lessons that can be learned—

[Fred Gorrell]

Yes.

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

—on the role of that technology.

[Fred Gorrell]

Thank you for your comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you.

If I may, I have a question. I don't want to stretch the parliamentary session any longer than I have to, but I'm curious about something.

With regard to the plant specimens we found there, wheat is, of course, an annual plant. If the plants had been left alone, would they have had a chance to mature, germinate again next year, and eventually propagate?

[David Bailey]

Yes, they would be able to propagate further within themselves. That's why it's important that we controlled it and destroyed it and ensured that it didn't persist in the environment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

In this case, it was just kind of luck, because we sprayed it. Usually we don't spray wheat with glyphosate. So other than having the odd sample in the wheat load when you ship them, how do we know this is not occurring? It was kind of a lucky strike for us to be able to identify it. Other than by taking a sample to the lab, how would we know? It might not look the same, but in thousands of acres of wheat, how do we know that this is not bigger than what we're seeing here?

[David Bailey]

We know that it is not bigger than what we are seeing because of the extensive scientific testing we have done. It is not a registered variety, so it is not commercially available. There is no approved genetically modified wheat in Canada for commercial use or production. Because of that, we were able to look at all of the varieties—there are about 450 varieties in Canada—and it is not a match for anything that is registered. We know this from its genetic fingerprint. Because of the extensive testing we did on the farm, we know that it has not persisted in the environment, so we can say with confidence that it has not entered the grain system and that it hasn't moved past that small footprint on that access road.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Finally, if Japan and Korea were not getting their wheat from Canada, where would it come from? Would they look at this as an opportunity to get their wheat somewhere else? I'm just curious as to why those two are—

[Fred Gorrell]

It's a good question. I would like to say we have the highest-quality wheat in the world. They use it and they buy it for the reasons we have. If there were a reason they were not able to purchase that wheat for a prolonged period of time, I'm assuming traders would be looking for other countries. That is one of the reasons we're working so diligently to let them know. There is no indication, no signal yet, in the marketplace, but that is one of the reasons why we're all working so diligently to give the Japanese what they need so they can reopen the market. Your question is good: it's how traders will respond to this thing. We're still waiting to see. We're very confident and optimistic that they will return to Canada for our wheat both for the quality and, as I've said, since we've been open and transparent. They know what we're saying and they can trust it, and they can trust our relationship going forward. Our traders have forged long-term relationships with Japan, and those mean a lot to the Japanese traders themselves as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Bailey, Mr. Gorrell, and Ms. Donohue, for being here again on short notice.

I want to wish everybody a good summer. Get out there, but also take some time with your family and rest and come back here refreshed. We want to see some energy.

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

Yes, sir. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Also I want to thank especially our assistants and our analysts.

Thank you.

The meeting is adjourned.