Evidence of meeting #64 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was disease.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON
The University of Guelph is in my riding. Is it involved in any of that type of research, or could it be?
President, HyLife Limited
I'm not aware of that at the University of Guelph.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Thank you, Mr. Vielfaure, and Mr. Longfield.
Madame Brosseau, you have six minutes.
NDP
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Thank you, Chair.
I would just say that it's kind of concerning. We had Mr. Kochhar from CFIA, and he talked about PED being transmitted from one pig to another through direct contact with sick animals.
Claude, you were talking about work that is being done in the States and tests that you have done on-site around airborne transmission. That was not in the discussions that we had on the last panel. That's kind of alarming.
I know that Mr. Longfield brought it up. Is there work being done on that? You're doing the work. You're investing. I guess it would be a recommendation for the government to better understand how this is transmitted.
I wanted to talk a bit about vaccines. How do they work?
I know the CFIA said that with emergency approval we're allowing these vaccines to come in; all you have to do is to call your vet, and then they place an order.
Where are these vaccines coming from? Are they effective? How much does it cost? I just want to get a better understanding.
President, HyLife Limited
My understanding about the vaccines is that they will not prevent the disease from coming into your herd; that's for sure. There will still be clinical signs. I believe that the mortality will be very close to the same. The only thing it will reduce is the amount of shedding. Maybe Greg from Maple Leaf will have a better idea of this vaccine, which is not commercially used yet.
Vice-President, Animal Care, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
Sure.
There are two vaccines available that Dr. Kochhar mentioned, but neither one of them is overly efficacious. As Claude mentioned, they may reduce shedding but they won't reduce disease, and they haven't been broadly used because producers have been trying to eliminate as opposed to control PEDv.
That being said—and your question is a good one—VIDO does have a vaccine being produced in Europe right now that might be useful in the coming months. The timeframe is unknown.
When Dr. Kochhar mentioned that they will fast-track access to a new vaccine, that might be something on the horizon. But again, while VIDO looked at it from a practical or a scientific perspective, the commercial application is yet to be seen in Canadian herds. There is hope that it could really help in terms of being protective, but right now, the measures of biosecurity, elimination, and cleaning and disinfection are really all we have. They're not very good, given the fact that we should have some vaccine options available the way we do for other diseases.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
The first case of PED in Canada in swine form was confirmed by the CFIA on January 24, 2014. It is now June 15, 2017.
In your presentation, you alluded to what may be a lack of collaboration and transparency at the CFIA, and the fact that the federal government may not have been as engaged as it should be. When CFIA was before us in the first panel, I asked about PED being a disease that is monitored federally, and Mr. Kochhar spoke about the OIE, the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Could you talk about the importance of federal leadership in this? Right now, we're talking about Manitoba, but it was in Ontario, and it has been in Quebec. I think there needs to be more federal leadership. I know that the minister spoke out yesterday and said that he was going to work with CFIA and that more would be done and more talk. I was just wondering if you could elaborate a bit more on what you experienced in Ontario and what you're seeing right now.
Vice-President, Animal Care, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
Yes, I could speak at length. I remember that day very well in January 2014. It was actually the University of Guelph animal health laboratory that confirmed the presence of the disease in Ontario, and then we went to work with our industry. We had prepared beforehand with our industry because we saw the situation evolving in the United States.
Harpreet is a friend of mine, but unfortunately CFIA wasn't an ongoing partner in those early days. Eventually, they came onboard with some biosecurity help, and then when we started to realize that there was definitely a feed component, they helped us with some degree of testing. It wasn't until the OIE asked the United States to report on their PED situation and Canadians followed suit that the CFIA really did engage at the farm at the provincial level.
In response to your question—I know it's a windy answer—I don't think the CFIA has a strong animal health presence. I think they need to re-engage in emerging diseases. We made it an immediately notifiable disease with our lab and our veterinarians in Ontario, as did Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta; and it does stand the test of being a federally regulated disease, reportable, notifiable. What box you want to put it in can be a matter of debate. But on an emerging situation in Canada that's affecting more provinces, that can affect producers across the country, affect the economy, communities, animals, the federal government has a mandate; and it needs to be accountable to its mandate. If that sounds strong, a lot of my chief veterinary friends across Canada would share my sentiment.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Bev Shipley
Thank you very much, Madame Brosseau.
Mr. Peschisolido, for six minutes, please.
Liberal
Joe Peschisolido Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Mr. Vice-Chair, thank you.
I'd like to welcome our guests to the committee.
Mr. Douglas, I'd like to follow up on your views on the role of the federal government. Obviously, this disease is in a variety of places in North America. You really didn't care what you called it, but the CFIA should be playing a much stronger role. Can you elaborate on the specific things that you think CFIA should be doing?
Vice-President, Animal Care, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
That's a good question.
In previous years we had significant disease outbreaks once a decade. Now they are coming more and more frequently—whether it's PED or BSE. I was very involved in BSE in the early 2000s, H1N1, avian influenza, a whole host of them. Ebola was a threat to us a few years ago, and SARS. Animal health in Canada is a constant threat. At the federal level it is really, in my mind, hard to fathom where it sits. Right now CFIA reports to Health Canada, and animal health seems to be orphaned there since they aren't reporting as directly to Ag Canada.
I know they're working on a strategy. It's an interesting document. It says what we've already known for many years, but operationally the CFIA seems to be absent in responding to these clear and present dangers around the world. I think it is time. The PED situation in Manitoba really highlights the fact that there needs to be a constant federal presence. I'm not saying they have to be the primary leader, but their role has has to be collaborative with all levels of government. Municipalities have a role in disposal. The industry has a strong role to play, but the federal government needs to re-engage on animal health, and this particular situation is just one of a list of situations that we're seeing.
Right now we're seeing a renewed outbreak of rabies in southwestern Ontario, and that used to be a federal disease. The federal government was there front and centre, and they are taking a backseat now to provincial authorities, which is sad because that particular disease does affect human health. PED does not, but it still will have a strong effect on the communities that are affected by it, and in Manitoba for sure right now.
Liberal
Joe Peschisolido Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Mr. Douglas, when you said there was a lack of communication, a lack of transparency, were you referring to the communication between CFIA and the provincial counterparts, or CFIA and stakeholders?
Vice-President, Animal Care, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
All communications. When you talk about managing a disease outbreak, whether it's BSE or avian influenza, everybody needs to know what's happening in the situation all the time so that they can make good, responsible decisions, including testing information, such as which premises are infected and which equipment is cleaned or not cleaned. Transparency is absolutely critical for everybody in the system so that they can all contribute to the solution.
Liberal
Joe Peschisolido Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Mr. Pearce, you mentioned earlier that you and your company were doing everything possible to keep the disease out of western Canada. Can you elaborate a little on that and how CFIA and the federal government could be helpful to you in doing that?
General Manager, P. Quintaine & Son Ltd.
First of all, although the regulations changed back to where we didn't have to wash all the equipment when it returned from the United States, whether we're required to do it or not, it's on our dime and we have to do it. We wouldn't have any customers if we didn't do that.
We've also engaged the provincial government especially, and industry people, in helping us. We're buying stations; we're assembly yards. People come to our facility. All of their animals have different health statuses. We are going to get a bug in our station, no matter what. Whether it's clean or not, the next day it could be dirty again.
The biggest thing we're concentrating on is developing proper procedures to biocontain, to keep that bug in our station. When we procure the livestock, we're buying them and moving them as quickly as possible. Basically, if I buy your animals today, tomorrow I want them on a truck and to be harvested the next day, so if they do come into something, they're not shedding it out the back end.
Liberal
Joe Peschisolido Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Okay.
Mr. Vielfaure, you mentioned that you have operations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, and overseas in Japan, China, and Korea perhaps.
President, HyLife Limited
We're overseas in Japan, China, and Mexico, but with live production only in China.
Liberal
Joe Peschisolido Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
I'd like to take this opportunity to ask or why there is no longer a hog industry in my neck of the woods. I represent the riding of Steveston—East Richmond, and I was told that historically, up until the Korean War, the largest hog industry in western Canada was not only in B.C., but off Sea Island. Is there a possibility of re-creating a hog industry there?
I'll preface that by saying something else. My big concern about what's going on now is that hog production has a good brand. I have quite a large group of Canadians particularly of Chinese background and Japanese background, and they want to have Canadian pork.
Is there a possibility of re-creating a hog industry in B.C.; and what can be done to make sure that the Canadian brand does not get damaged by what's going on right now?
President, HyLife Limited
First of all, for the hog industry, obviously economics will make a big difference in where you produce pigs and feed. Lots of land and processing plants will help you decide where you're going to build your barns. That's possibly counter to B.C.; maybe it's not as accessible there.
Secondly, we have an excellent Canadian brand of pork throughout the world. We market a lot of pork into Japan. We've branded it HyLife pork. It's looked upon very favourably. With lots of land and a good, very clean image of Canada, pork has been very good overseas.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Thank you, Mr. Peschisolido.
That will wrap up our testimony. I want to thank all of you for helping us bring attention to this very important matter that, in a way, threatens the pork industry.
Thank you, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Vielfaure, and Mr. Rempel for being here with us today.
We have another few minutes to decide how we're going to proceed with the recommendations we've heard today. We will suspend to get the room cleared.
[Proceedings continue in camera]