Agriculture Committee on Nov. 29th, 2018

[Dr. Jaspinder Komal]

I would like to add that these organizations have paying members who have influence over standards that are set. Given that Canada is one of the countries with the highest standards, we want to be sure that food safety standards on the market are not weakened. It is therefore very important that Canada has a place at the table to exercise its influence on standardization, as the standards apply to products that we export.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you.

Do you have another question?

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

I will let somebody else ask questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Okay.

Mr. MacGregor, you have questions.

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

Thank you, chair.

Dr. Komal, just going on what Mr. Shipley was talking about with the hormone use, I believe the primary reason it was banned in Canada was that use of it led to a higher incidence of lameness and other problems in animals. Is that correct?

[Dr. Jaspinder Komal]

I think so. This was by Health Canada. I don't have all the details.

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

You are the chief veterinary officer. Do you have some familiarity with it?

[Dr. Jaspinder Komal]

Yes.

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

Okay.

To address Mr. Shipley's concerns, we do have a very engaged consumer base in Canada. I think a large part of their interest in our farms is to see that our animals are well treated. Perhaps we could use that as a selling point for Canadian milk in the future, that our dairy farmers look after their animals really well. Maybe that's some kind of campaign we can engage in.

That's all I have to say. Thank you to all of you for appearing today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

Mr. Berthold, go ahead.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I have two quick questions.

Mr. Forbes, two committees have been set up to deal with compensation for supply management. What document are those committees working on right now?

[Chris Forbes]

We are all still waiting. The Dairy Farmers of Canada have stated that we need the finalized text before being able to talk about it.

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

How do you explain the fact that we still don't have a document? The Mexicans had theirs three days afterwards. Here in Canada, we still don't have the finalized document of the accord. How can we prepare for something and work under those circumstances? It's a mystery.

[Chris Forbes]

The negotiations are indeed over, but there are some small details that Canada and the United States have to iron out. Once the agreement is signed, the document will be finalized and we can get to work based on that.

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

Therefore the committee will not be able to start working without those documents.

[Chris Forbes]

The committee has not yet started.

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

Fine.

My second question is about the promise made by the minister concerning a long-term agreement with India, which is about

fumigation. I don't know the term in French.

This accord was promised to be signed by the end of 2019. Will this actually happen?

These decisions have hit our exports hard. We are waiting for a decision. Do you think it will come?

[Chris Forbes]

Dr. Komal might be able to tell you a bit more, but I would just like to say that we had an Indian delegation here in the fall. They came to see how our system works. We are awaiting that delegation's report and then we can take the next step here in Canada.

[Dr. Jaspinder Komal]

We are waiting to see what will be in that report. Many countries are faced with the same problems in terms of competitiveness. We have people who are working hard to try to establish relations with India. We would like to find a permanent solution and continue to expand.

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

Will be possible to do so before the end of 2019, as the minister promised?

[Chris Forbes]

We are working on it. We are ready on our side.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

I would like to thank all of you.

I would like to thank the Deputy Minister, Mr. Forbes, the Assistant Deputy Minister, Ms. Walker as well as Dr. Komal for having stayed to answer our questions.

We have finished the Q and A part of our meeting, but we now have to vote on the supplementary estimates.

As per section 81(5) of the regulations, the committee will now vote on Supplementary Estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2019 for the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Is everybody agreed to deal with these votes in one single motion?

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

CANADIAN GRAIN COMMISSION Vote 1a—Program expenditures..........$99,196

(Vote 1a agreed to on division.)

CANADIAN DAIRY COMMISSION Vote 1a—Program expenditures..........$99,196

(Vote 1a carried on division.)

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD Vote 1a—Operating expenditures..........$23,942,270 Vote 5a—Capital expenditures..........$4,495,859 Vote 10a—Grants listed in any of the estimates for the fiscal year..........$1,000,000

(Votes 1a, 5a and 10a agreed to on division.)

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Shall the chair report the votes to the House?