It really depends on what commodity you are looking at. I am of the mind that we need to think about controlled environment agriculture systems much more. If you think about food autonomy, a lot of provinces are moving in that direction.
Kraft Heinz is a good example of some of the things we may not be doing right in Canada. Kraft Heinz just announced it was building a new plant in Montreal. Quebec taxpayers are providing a $2-million loan, guaranteed by taxpayers in Quebec, but all the tomatoes that will be processed in Montreal will be coming from the United States. Farmers gain nothing out of this. There is a promise on the table stating that tomatoes will be coming from Quebec, but I don't see how it can be done, at this point. When we think about supporting processing, we have to adopt a value chain approach.
There is nothing wrong, by the way, with exporting. Actually, I think the Barton report encourages us to think about exports. If we want to make our food affordable, safe, and of high quality for Canadians, we cannot pretend that we can do that by just thinking about feeding 38 million people. We have way more to offer. Why not profit from exports by making sure our food is affordable and safe for Canadians as well?