Agriculture Committee on May 5th, 2020

[Chris Forbes]

I'm going to say yes, because it is money that was not going to be spent until that announcement was made today.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

But every year there is money made available under AgriRecovery, so is this specifically new for COVID-19?

[Chris Forbes]

Last year, for example, we did not spend anywhere near $100 million through AgriRecovery. These monies are new to deal with the specifics in the cattle and pork sectors right now, and as I said, it could be made available to further industries if needed.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said that there are $126 billion, I believe, in new funds that have already been announced by the government, so if AgriRecovery isn't new money, you can see how that kind of looks to industry and producers.

I'm going to go back to the $77 million for the emergency processing fund. Can you confirm if this was in the works pre-COVID with industry? Were you in talks with industry pre-COVID-19, or is this new money? Again, yes or no, is this a new program?

[Chris Forbes]

This is a new program.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

So it wasn't in the works prior to COVID?

[Chris Forbes]

Well, this program was not in the works prior to COVID. We have industry frequently making requests around new programming money, including the processing industry, but this program was not contemplated in its current form prior to COVID.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay. That's fair enough.

With regard to that $77 million, here in Ontario we've had a backlog in cattle processing. A lot of ranchers and cattle farmers in my riding have had big difficulties getting their cattle processed because of the Ryding-Regency plant shutdown back in December, and I have been asking the minister for months if there was something available to help.

I'm just curious: Now that Ryding-Regency has new ownership, I believe, is there a potential for that new owner to access some of the $77 million to retrofit in order to get them up and running again so that we can see increased capacity here for Ontario and eastern Canada?

[Chris Forbes]

My answer would be yes. It's obviously subject to the specifics they would be looking for. I'd just add, and sorry to be lengthy, that there are other Agriculture Canada or provincial programs that exist now that can support processing investment, too.

If that did proceed and the new owners, if that's the case, were to come forward and engage with us, we'd certainly be happy to look at what was available in the existing suite of programs, including the $77 million.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Thank you.

I've been talking with some of my small farmers as well, who have fallen through the cracks a bit here. They're not qualifying for some of the money that's available to other businesses.

Is there anything in the works to help the smaller farmers who maybe can't qualify because they don't have a payroll that's worth $20,000 or they are self-employed and they use their own children and their spouses to do the work on their farms? They also might have a retail store that they're not able to open right now. Is there anything available to them?

[Chris Forbes]

There is a range of programs available. In our engagement with the sector, whether it's individually or often through organizations, we try to look at what is available to start off with, whether it's through Farm Credit or other lenders, other programs—

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

With all due respect, farmers don't want to take on more debt. Will there be more help for them without having to take on more debt?

[Chris Forbes]

Sorry. Just to be clear, with Farm Credit, a big chunk of that is deferrals, so it's not actually adding debt but deferring payments.

However, I would certainly hear that point, that farmers are very clear about not wanting new debt. Certainly in our discussions, if we find out that programs are not working for farmers, if they're our programs, we can often do things about them, and if they're from other parts of the government, we work with our colleagues to look at whether there are solutions available to help make them better targeted for the farmers.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Right, but they still have to pay the interest, even if they defer, and that's only if they are existing customers of FCC.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Unfortunately, that's all the time we have.

Thank you, Ms. Rood.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Now we'll move to our next questioner.

Ms. Bessette, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Lyne Bessette, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's nice to see everyone.

Thank you, Mr. Forbes and Ms. Barnes, for joining us and being there to answer our questions tonight.

These complex times call for greater solidarity. In my riding, La Coopérative le terroir solidaire is working closely with small farming companies in order to share best practices and mitigate impacts associated with COVID-19. We know that regional and provincial agricultural organizations are the eyes and ears of what is really happening out there in the field.

Can you inform this committee how you're keeping in touch with stakeholders during this time? What channel are you using to get this information out to them?

[Chris Forbes]

I might turn to my colleague, Mr. Seppey, to answer that question. He's the ADM who has been engaged most directly with stakeholders over this period.

[Frédéric Seppey]

Thank you.

We have a number of mechanisms, some of which have been established for a long period of time with the industry.

As soon as we went into crisis mode, we organized daily calls with the industry. At times there are more than 500 representatives from all over the agriculture and agri-food sector, including food banks, small farmers, the National Farmers Union, etc. That's our primary vehicle. We also have regular emails and are proactively sending information to our distribution list of more than 1,500 participants.

In addition, as the deputy minister indicated previously, for certain big value chains that have specific issues—I am thinking of the meat sector—we have established working groups. They meet regularly to discuss in detail, with decision-makers in the government, such as public servants, the specific issues and look at how we can address specific bottlenecks. For example, my colleague Ms. Barnes, from CFIA, was active in these working groups when there were problems with the number of CFIA inspectors available to work at certain plants. These issues were escalated and quickly fixed in collaboration with the industry.

These are just a few examples.

[Lyne Bessette, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you very much.

I'm concerned because, according to multiple reports, thousands of animals must be slaughtered on compassionate grounds. With slaughterhouses closed, the lack of capacity to provide feed for animals means that a number of farmers are facing difficult decisions. This is the case in my constituency, and it's also the case across the country.

I see that you have multiple connections. What does the department expect from the stakeholders in terms of compassionate slaughter?

[Chris Forbes]

If possible, stakeholders prefer to avoid this approach. As a result, we're trying to support stakeholders with additional funding to keep animals on the farm longer. This is the important part of the AgriRecovery initiatives that we announced today.

[Lyne Bessette, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Okay, thank you.

On another note, regarding the market changes caused by COVID-19, the needs vary from farm to farm. Of course, it's important to show flexibility with regard to foreign workers.

Has anything been implemented to facilitate the transfer of foreign workers from one employer to another?

[Chris Forbes]

This matter doesn't fall under the department's jurisdiction. However, we're working closely with our colleagues at Employment and Social Development Canada and at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to ensure as much flexibility as possible for workers who are already in the country, for example.

We're also working with the workers to facilitate the approval process before they arrive, so that the process is quicker and more flexible for employers. Since producers are under tremendous pressure, our colleagues at the federal level are trying to make the process as quick as possible and to ensure flexibility.

[Lyne Bessette, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Perfect. Thank you.