Agriculture Committee on Nov. 26th, 2020

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Perron

Go ahead, Ms. Rood, for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be splitting my time with Mr. Steinley.

Minister, we've heard from many stakeholders that the current suite of BRM programs is not working. I'm just wondering if you've heard from the provinces. Have they come up with a different funding solution? Perhaps the federal government could put in a little more money right now, considering COVID and considering that we've hardly seen any new money go into agriculture to support producers and farmers.

Would you commit to working with the provinces to find a way to make some of these changes happen if they aren't able to put in their 40% share?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

You said that no significant money has been going into agriculture, but I don't agree. I think we've put quite a bit into agriculture. I really look forward to seeing what consensus we will find tomorrow.

The federal government has been quite generous in its transfers to the provinces. We've provided around 82¢ for every dollar in terms of support to the different sectors and to Canadians throughout the pandemic.

When we talk about business risk management, for years there's been a fair cost-sharing of sixty-forty, and it should continue this way.

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

Minister, last spring when the pandemic hit, we saw delays in getting seasonal agricultural workers and temporary foreign workers onto farms. We saw the drastic conditions that some of the workers in the greenhouses in the Leamington area were put into.

I'm wondering if you have a plan to work with Health Canada or with your colleagues at ESDC so that when the workers start arriving in the new year.... Is there a plan in place to make sure they can get to work right away so that we won't lose food production and farmers won't go through the catastrophic events of losing their entire crops, as we saw last spring?

As you know, food security is a big issue and we need to ensure that we have it. We need to ensure that our farmers have the workers they need and that they come on time. Will you commit to working with them to ensure that they can get to work right away?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I've been working with them for a while. This is why we were able to bring in 85% of the workers this summer, even if the borders were closed. We have put in place important supports, starting with the $50 million for the isolation period and $35 million for the retrofits by employers. Obviously, we are learning from this experience. We are doing everything to make sure the arrival of the workers for the next season will go smoothly.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you, Minister.

I have a quick question. Have the provinces put forward through their agriculture ministers any constructive ideas on how cost-sharing can happen whereby we can increase our coverage in the BRM suite of programs?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Well, tomorrow I am going to have what will be my 21st meeting with my provincial and territorial counterparts. We've been discussing business risk management at almost every meeting. We are sharing our views and our best ideas, and we have all worked hard to analyze the strengths and the weaknesses of these programs to make sure the decisions we make will be in the best interests of our farmers.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

I know we're talking about agriculture. One thing I've heard about time and again in connection with concern around the clean fuel standard is land management and the fact that the federal government is going to get into the area of land management when it comes to agricultural producers. Please don't say it's part of Environment's bills and regulations, because it does affect producers across the country.

Have you had any conversations about the regulations around the clean fuel standard, and, hopefully, removing any reference to land management in those regulations?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes, I'm having conversations on this topic to make sure that while it ensures that our Canadian agriculture is sustainable, it won't have any undesirable impacts on our producers. This is something we are following closely.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you very much.

I have a quick question. I think it's fair to say that no one was fully prepared for COVID-19.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Steinley. I'm sorry about that.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Have you guys had conversations around the African swine fever with regard to how it affects Canadian hogs?

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

I'm sorry, but we're out of time, Mr. Steinley.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Now we have Mr. Blois, for five minutes.

Go ahead, Mr. Blois.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. It's great to see you back at committee. I just want to say thank you for all the work you're doing on behalf of our producers across the country.

If you'll indulge me, I just want to opine quickly on some of the things I've heard, before I get into some of the questions.

Of course, some of the members of our committee have expressed that they are anxious to know when compensation might be forthcoming. I would encourage you to make sure you make that announcement to producers, not to us here on the committee.

Obviously, Mr. Perron talked about the fiscal year. The fiscal year goes all the way to March, and I know you'll be working hard, but we've promised to do this within the fiscal year, and I want to remind Mr. Perron of that.

The last thing I thought was very interesting about the last line of questioning is that we just tabled a report to you that was unanimously approved by all committee members. Ms. Rood and Mr. Steinley were both talking about increasing the sixty-forty federal-provincial cost-share, something the report recommended we keep. I found that a little bit interesting.

I want to move on to our questions.

The Kentville research station, in my riding of Kings—Hants, is extremely important. It is home to one of the best apple biodiversity collections in the world and provides great research. You had the chance to be there, I think, in 2019.

Can you speak to the importance of research centres and the innovation work to make sure that our producers have, basically, the top ability to provide products the world wants?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes. Thank you.

In my answers to Mr. Louis a bit earlier, I had the opportunity to talk about all the investments we make in science, and in innovation as well, and about how we're very proud of our research centres. This is why we continue to invest in them. We have even reopened a few of them.

I think these research centres are also a great part of the good reputation Canada has internationally. We have the reputation of providing very high-quality food. We are really committed to continue investing in making sure that our farmers have, for example, new crops or new technologies that will help them be more resilient facing climate change. This is something we really believe in and we will continue to invest in.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Thank you, Minister.

African swine fever is a top-of-mind priority for pork producers. I had a recent Nova Scotia agriculture round table in my riding. You had the chance to participate and call in. This was one of the topics that came up in the pork context. Can you speak a little bit about the work our government is doing? A lot of producers talked about the important research and protection that's happening in that domain.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes. This is a very, very important priority for me. We are following this extremely closely, working with the provinces and working with the industry. We are doing everything we can, first to prevent the disease from entering the country and, second, to be ready, if ever it comes, to protect our farmers and protect our industry.

We are negotiating zoning agreements, and have actually concluded an agreement with the EU and United States. We're continuing this work. We have recently announced the promotion office for the pork sector. They have more resources to invest from their part as well in terms of protection and getting ready for that.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

I'm surprised no one has asked the question yet, but you've obviously just met your provincial and territorial counterparts. I don't want to put you in a compromising position, but can you provide a general description of the subjects discussed and how the first meeting went?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you very much for your efforts to speak French, Mr. Blois. I'm grateful to you for that.

In fact, the 21^st meeting with my provincial and territorial counterparts will be held tomorrow. The priority topics for discussion include the labour shortage and African swine fever. We will also address preparations for the next Canadian agricultural partnership. There remain only two years in that partnership's five-year cycle, and we're starting to discuss the next phase. In addition, we will obviously look at risk management, changes to the AgriStability program, which we hope will be short-term, and changes that may perhaps be more substantial and long-term as part of the next Canadian agricultural partnership cycle.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Thanks very much, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you, Mr. Blois

Madam Minister, thank you for taking the time to meet with us. The information you've provided will be of great help to all our colleagues. The departmental representatives will be staying with us for the rest of the meeting. Thank you, Minister, and we hope to see you again.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you, everyone.