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Evidence of meeting #13 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was processing.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #13 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was processing.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:30 p.m.
Retired Business Executive and Farmer, As an Individual
Yes, I hear you now.
5:30 p.m.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Blenkharn, you started your presentation by saying that supply management was a good system that should be maintained. I was happy to hear this. At the same time, you also said that the system needed to be modernized and that producers were only one component.
I'd like you to elaborate on this idea in 30 seconds.
5:30 p.m.
Retired Business Executive and Farmer, As an Individual
As I said, they're one cog in the wheel. They supply the raw product, but then the processor has to take that raw product and turn it into something that the consumer wants.
The problem with chicken supply management—and it's not the same in all supply management, but in chicken supply management—is that the way the system is set up, the producer controls the supply. They're guaranteed a price. The more they produce, the more they make, so there's no appetite for them to produce less and keep the supply equal to the demand in the country. COVID-19 has been really—
5:35 p.m.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Sorry to interrupt you, but time is limited.
Isn't there a supply adjustment according to the market? Isn't that the system?
5:35 p.m.
Retired Business Executive and Farmer, As an Individual
No, there is still way too much chicken being produced in this country. The producers will not cut back their supply because when they cut back the supply they make less money. The processors are bleeding, as I said earlier. Something they should sell at three or four dollars, they were selling just before Christmas at 50¢ or 60¢ a kilogram.
5:35 p.m.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
The current situation gives us the impression that we're short on processing everywhere. I'm trying to grasp what you're saying.
Are you saying that there's too much processing in the chicken sector?
5:35 p.m.
Retired Business Executive and Farmer, As an Individual
That's the reason why I say that supply management, especially in the poultry sector, needs to modernize.
5:35 p.m.
Retired Business Executive and Farmer, As an Individual
There needs to be some consequence.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Thank you, Mr. Blenkharn.
We have Mr. MacGregor for two and a half minutes.
Thank you, Mr. Perron.
5:35 p.m.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Sullivan, in your earlier exchange with Ms. Rood, you were talking about the enormous costs that have been borne by the industry in dealing with COVID-19, particularly how the floor plan has had to change in many food-processing centres to deal with physical distancing and so on.
As you look forward into the future—and hopefully by the end of 2021 we're well on our way to having most of the population vaccinated and we really have those numbers down—how is the industry going to adjust? Are there plans to go back to the way the floor plans were set up before COVID struck? What lessons have you taken from the pandemic, should another one strike us in a decade's time? I'm curious as to what kind of planning is going on for how those floors are organized as we head towards recovery.
January 26th, 2021 / 5:35 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Food and Beverage Canada
Right now we're still in the middle of the pandemic. We're obviously in the middle of the second wave, and things are probably worse, or recently have been worse, than they have ever been, so no, companies aren't, at this point, anywhere near thinking of planning to roll things back.
If anything, I think we're not going to see many changes, or even planning, until we see a critical mass of the population vaccinated and we start to hear from the experts about what the risk level is of the virus transmitting. Even at that point, I think we are going to see some changes in plants that are permanent.
For example, plants have put in walkways and barriers so that people can't pass each other. It's similar to what you see in grocery stores where you can only go one way. I think it will be a long time before you see that change. I think it will be a long time before you see the enhanced cleaning, or any of the changes that we've had to make, be reversed.
Some of those costs have been incurred and they won't be incurred again, and some are ongoing, like PPE, additional cleaning, health screening.
Even if you have an employee who is diagnosed with COVID, as an employer you do the contact tracing within the plant; public health doesn't come in and do that. The employer does all the contact tracing within the plant and watches security cameras to see what employee may have contacted another employee. There are massive costs that are involved in that, and I think those will be around for quite a while.
5:35 p.m.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
I think I'm getting close to the end of my time.
Thank you.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.
This is the end of our session. I'd like to thank Mr. Blenkharn and Ms. Sullivan for their really insightful statements.
Thanks, everyone. We'll see you on Thursday. Take care.
The meeting is adjourned.