Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's a pleasure for me to be here this morning. I wish I didn't have to be here. I wish I could be back in my riding and meeting with constituents. I had a farm visit lined up at a brand new poultry farm that has the latest technology in the egg industry. I was supposed to bring greetings. I'd sooner be doing that than be here, but I am here because I think it's an extremely important and urgent issue that has seized us. It's something that this committee needs to grasp and needs to get a hold of. That's why I fully support the motion that's on the table to bring to this committee the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of International Trade Diversification and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as departmental officials, industry individuals and farmers, to provide not only questions for us to look at but perhaps some answers. They could be terribly important.
As for what I've done, I've been hearing back from some of the farmers in my riding about this issue. In just a moment, I'm going to read a few quotes. This issue started almost a month ago with the export permit for Richardson's canola to China being revoked. That has been followed up now on the permit for Viterra. I'm sure there are going to be others.
We're unable to sell our canola into the Chinese market. That's 40% of our 90% of exports. We count on exports for our canola industry. Canola is a $26-billion industry here in Canada. We have 43,000 farmers who are canola producers in this country. This isn't an issue that affects just a handful of people. It's not an issue that affects just a couple of trading companies that want to do business with China. This is an issue that affects 250,000 individuals working in the canola industry and 43,000 canola producers. This is a very big and significant issue and it requires us to take immediate action.
Some of the farmers in my riding have communicated with us. I want to briefly share a few comments from them.
The first one is from a farmer from the Oakbank area. Howard Bredin says, “This is definitely a concern. I've seen a dollar-a-bushel drop, which is a significant portion of the profit. I'd be tempted to grow less canola going forward.” Volker Wyrich, from the RM of Springfield, says, “We're extremely concerned about market access and a potential clampdown on other imports. We're up against the wall here. We're cutting back on canola because of this.”
Greg Smith, from the RM of Springfield, says:, “We're slated to seed 800 acres of canola, but we're contemplating dropping that down. It's hard to be optimistic about what to grow this coming year.” Another farmer from Springfield says, “We have enough challenges marketing and growing a crop without getting dragged into a political quagmire.”Jeff Van Ryssel says, “I've already shifted to other crops out of worry of what's going to happen. This will have long-term detrimental effects to the Canadian economy.”
Vernon Froese, a farmer close to Grunthal in the RM of Hanover, says, “We're seeing 23 million canola acres put in jeopardy. This puts downward pressure on prices for every other crop as well. Wheat, soybeans, corn and barley will all be affected.” Finally, Roger Vaags, from the RM of Springfield, says, “Is Mr. Trudeau leaving farmers to bear the consequences of this political conflict or is he prepared to support out canola farmers like the U.S. administration did with its aid package to soybean growers?”
Those are just a few of the comments we've received in my office from farmers in my constituency. There are farmers right across Canada who have similar concerns and other questions in addition to these. This is an issue that we need to be seized with. Spring planting is just around the corner. Farmers need to know what they're going to be planting this year. Is there a market for the crop they want to grow?
Many of these farmers are already committed. They've done their fall work. They've already prepared their soils, their quarter sections and their acres, to grow this canola crop. There's an opportunity for some of them to switch gears and change, but they need to have the assurance that they have the backing of this government, and that our government here in Canada is prepared to support them and to resolve this trade issue with China. It's not a quality control issue. We know that our products here in Canada are world-class products. Nobody produces a better product than we do.
No one from the Chinese side has been able to produce any evidence that would suggest the allegations they've made about quality control are actually true and factual. We know they're false. We know that we have the highest-quality product of anywhere in the world and that's what China has been benefiting from all these years.
This is obviously a political issue. It's something that our ministers and our Prime Minister need to be seized with. He needs to get on the phone to whoever it is. As you know, we don't even have an ambassador in China at the moment who can be our advocate, the advocate for 43,000 farmers and for 250,000 people employed in the canola industry here in Canada. Who is our advocate in China? We need somebody on the ground. We need boots on the ground.
Many political leaders across the western provinces have been asking for a very high-level delegation to be sent to China to negotiate this political crisis. The question is: Who is going to be part of that delegation. Also, who are they going to be meeting with? What are the issues that we need to be addressing here at committee?
Mr. Chair, I just want to impress upon you once again that this is a good motion. It's a motion that will enable this committee to move the issue forward and to move the ball a little closer to the goal line. We have to get the ball across the line and get this trade issue resolved. It's a political issue, and we need to know what our ministers and politicians are doing.
Thank you.