Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to put forward a motion for, hopefully, a brief discussion.
I have had discussions with all of the parties on this, so I don't suspect this will be a difficult discussion.
My motion reads:
That the committee hold a three-hour meeting by December 22, 2021, to hear one panel on the extreme flooding and landslides in the province of British Columbia for the first hour with the following witnesses: officials from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food and officials from the Department of Public Safety; and one panel on the interim suspension of certification of all potatoes originating from Prince Edward Island to the United States with the following witnesses: officials from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Premier of Prince Edward Island and the Minister of Agriculture and Land, and the P.E.I. Potato Board.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The reason I'm putting that motion forward is that these are two of the most significant issues facing Canadian agriculture at this time. We're not asking the minister to be here. It's simply the officials, so that we can get a better understanding of the impact the floods have had on B.C. agriculture and where assistance is needed. We certainly want to see what we can do to help there and to have a better understanding of the probable longer-term consequences.
For the second one.... You were talking, Mr. Chair, about the importance of supporting our farmers. I would like a better understanding on the decision-making process that was behind this ban and certainly what the discussions were with CFIA and the USDA. Was the USDA looking to lift that ban? What are the metrics or the bar that must be met? Are we close? What is the timeline around that?
This one is important, as the chair certainly knows, because the potatoes are perishable. We have until the end of January. That is when they will have to make a very hard decision either to open this market or to start destroying product, which is heartbreaking for those farmers. That is the reason for this motion.
I certainly hope we have everyone's support to do this sometime next week. I know it's a break week, but I do see this as being quite timely and not something we can wait until the end of January or early February to discuss.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.