Agriculture Committee on May 15th, 2020

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

I certainly agree. We're all in this together, and everyone needs to step up to make sure that Canadians can eat. Thank you, Mr. Lemaire. I appreciate that.

Mr. Gilroy, in your opening statement, you mentioned that you're advocating what I think is the same position as that of the Grain Farmers of Ontario, which is a 5% investment in the AgriInvest account. Have you done an analysis on what that represents in terms of cost or a dollar figure attached to that?

[Brian Gilroy]

I'm sorry. I haven't. I'm certain that I could get that number to you fairly rapidly.

That would be a number that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada would be able to supply rapidly, I would think.

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

Okay. If you do have that number, you can provide it to the committee. If you don't, no big deal, but I would certainly appreciate it.

Mr. MacIsaac, I have only one potato grower in my region, so I would never overestimate my knowledge on potato growing, but I think you've touched on a really good point in terms of the industry having to readapt and how consumers are changing. Are you looking at how, with COVID, Canadians are eating at home more? Potentially, they may not go back to restaurants because of X, Y or Z and different reasons.

How does your industry adapt to that? Are you having those discussions with McCain, Cavendish and other processors in that particular market and in the direct restaurant market? Essentially, how is that going to impact your farmers?

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Very quickly, please.

[Kevin MacIsaac]

We do have those discussions, certainly, but our industry is so largely driven by the processing sector that it has really been our bright shining star in the past few years when we've had other issues with consumption of our fresh product. We really need to perhaps retool the way some of that's done, but the reality is that it's about 70% of our business in Canada currently.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. MacIsaac.

Mr. Perron, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Good afternoon everyone.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

Mr. Gilroy, you spoke about the AgriStability program. You asked that the intervention threshold be increased to 90% for 2020. We all know that the agricultural community had already asked that it be increased to 85% before the crisis. So I imagine that you are asking that it be increased to 90% specifically because of the crisis. This demonstrates the importance of securing the crops.

What will the consequences be if the government doesn't move on this?

[Brian Gilroy]

Thank you for the question, but I apologize. I have rural Internet and your question was a bit fuzzy.

Is it what is the effect this will have if it doesn't happen? Growers are reducing—

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I will repeat my question.

If the AgriStability program is not improved, what will be the impact on horticultural production in Canada and Quebec?

[Brian Gilroy]

Well, we've already heard that asparagus production is estimated to be down by 50%. A lot of people who are planting annual crops are reducing the amount they're planting to a “for sure” manageable level. What I hear more often than not is that they're reducing plantings by 20%. Mother Nature has added to the complications this year by wiping out close to 300 acres of transplanted onions in the Holland marsh this past week.

Yes, there are pressures on the—

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

If we don't improve the AgriStability program, Mr. Gilroy, could we summarize by saying that if there is no intervention in terms of crop insurance, we can seriously worry about food self-sufficiency at the national level? Would you agree with that statement? What will be the impact on horticultural production in Canada and Quebec?

[Brian Gilroy]

It's certainly a possibility. Yes.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Perfect, thank you very much.

The second question is also for Mr. Gilroy, or perhaps Mr. VanderHout, if he has less trouble with the Internet.

With respect to the arrival of foreign workers, the government has said that about 86% of workers would have arrived. However, in your statement earlier, you talked about 78% in the Atlantic, 39% in Quebec and 47% in Ontario. There may be some errors in my figures, because I was writing them down at the same time as I was listening, but we are far from the 86%. Fears of worker shortages are real.

Is that right?

[Brian Gilroy]

We updated those numbers from the original brief. Quebec has received just 50% and British Columbia 54%, with Ontario and the Atlantic around 78%, but, yes, there is still a critical shortage of workers on some farms.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Thank you very much for confirming these numbers.

The other question I'm going to ask you is also about foreign workers.

The federal government announced direct assistance of $1,500 per foreign worker some time ago because it decided to ignore its responsibility to manage quarantines and delegate the task to producers. In the presentation, the $1,500 was announced as a kind of lump sum: you get a foreign worker, you get $1,500.

However, according to comments received from producers, there is a deadline for submitting the application. Invoices and proof of expenses would have to be provided, and the $1,500 would now be a hard maximum to obtain.

Could you talk to me about that? Have you heard anything from your producers about it?

[Jan VanderHout]

I'm a greenhouse cucumber grower, and we hire Mexican workers through both the SAWP and TFW program, and even today we have workers in isolation.

There are a few parts to that question. One part is we are paying the workers while they're in isolation. That comes to about $900. The other $600 is difficult to assign very specifically. I believe it should be a $1,500 flat rate per worker. This would help us deal with offsetting some of the hidden costs associated with isolating the workers.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

From what I understand, farmers are already having a tough time of it right now. They wouldn't want to have to fill out the paperwork. They do not need that. They would like to receive $1,500 every time they receive a foreign worker, to compensate not only for the fact that they had to pay him during the quarantine, but also for all the organization that this requires, not to mention the airfare that was more expensive and the arrival of the workers that was delayed. We agree on that very well. I hope the government people will get that message, because I am a little disappointed with the opinion of the producers on this issue.

My next question is for Mr. Keenan.

Mr. Keenan, you mentioned that the money that would be granted should be distributed to the provinces, including Quebec, because they are the governments that are closest to the people and are aware of the needs.

Can you explain to me what you mean when you say that?

[Ray Keenan]

I think the problem is that the vehicle the federal government uses to move money quickly and efficiently gets to be very cumbersome. About a year ago, we had a situation in Prince Edward Island when we had applied for AgriRecovery. It's a long process to get that money, but when you do get it, it's a very efficient way of distributing the money because it comes to the province.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Keenan.

Now we will go to Mr. MacGregor for up to six minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for appearing before our committee. It's good to see some familiar faces in our virtual world.

I'll start with the Canadian Horticultural Council

Concerning the temporary foreign workers, in your opening statement you gave different figures from what the government presented because you said the government's figures seem a little higher than they should be because March and April are combined. Did I hear that correctly?

[Brian Gilroy]

Yes, that's correct. The April numbers that are quoted, when compared to last year, aren't the same. It's not apples and apples. On March 17, I think, the workers stopped coming, and those workers from March 17 to the end of the month, plus the April workers, were due to come in.

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

The government has painted a slightly rosier picture than the reality on the ground for your members; however, we want to look at ways we can address this problem effectively.

Where in your mind is the main problem coming from? Are we finding the delays because airline travel has collapsed or because our workers are afraid of coming to Canada because they're afraid of risking exposure to the virus? Is it still too much paperwork? Where can we find room for more improvement to ensure that we have a reliable labour pool for our producers in the upcoming months?

[Brian Gilroy]

From my point of view, the Canadian government has really focused on how important these workers are and is doing everything it can to get the workers here. Some of the issues are related to supply countries. Mexico is in a real mess; its computers were hacked just before COVID hit, and that's created all sorts of issues. Guatemala is used a lot, and they were very slow coming on stream, but that has started.

I give a big thank you to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and all related ministries for the work on that file. We're just stating that it's not quite as good as they say it is.

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

Okay, that's good to know. We need to deal with the facts.

Ron, I'll turn to you and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association. I'm glad to hear in your opening statement your mentioning the deemed trust, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Correct me if I'm wrong; I believe in the last Parliament we had unanimous recommendations for such a body from two standing committees.

[Ron Lemaire]

Yes, we did, and the industry thought we would be moving forward. We're hopeful with the current government and the current pandemic situation that people will see the need.

We've identified how amazingly quickly legislation can move forward and be approved. I think this is essential; I think our sector needs it immediately; and, as I mentioned earlier, we're going to see bankruptcies. We're seeing them already in the U.S., if we look at it in a North American scope. We will see them start coming down the pipe as companies cannot meet their commitments, cannot open their doors or decide not to plant; there are a range of variables here. We need to have some backstop there so that they are able to, if selling into a company that's gone bankrupt, be considered a secured creditor.