Agriculture Committee on May 30th, 2024

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Minister, for your interest in this and answering questions.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Ms. Taylor Roy.

I’ll now give the floor to Mr. Perron for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I’m going to talk to you now about the vaccine bank for foot and mouth disease. Our dairy producers and our beef and hog producers are extremely concerned. Indeed, according to discussion papers from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the vaccine bank, which currently holds approximately 250,000 doses, is woefully understocked, but there still hasn’t been a request for proposals to increase reserves following commitments made last July. We need 30,000 doses. Where are we on that? Can you reassure our producers?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Yes, of course it is a concern to make sure the bank is properly equipped and has vaccines in place.

Let's see if Mr. Ianiro can give you the appropriate answer.

[Robert Ianiro, Vice-President, Policy and Programs, Canadian Food Inspection Agency]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Perron, thank you for your question on the vaccine bank.

As has been indicated, budget 2023 did provide $57.5 million over five years for the establishment of the vaccine bank. I want to reassure the committee that there are sufficient funds to establish the vaccine bank, whether we go into a cost-sharing agreement with the provinces or not.

We are in the process of finalizing a request for proposal, and it will be released imminently. It is a very complicated vaccine. It's very technical. We are in the process of issuing that RFP, and it will be, obviously, the first step to getting suppliers to submit bids to establish the vaccine bank.

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

It’s a bit like everything else, Minister, it takes time. Things could be more efficient.

I’d like to talk about the Canadian organic standards review. We have to fight to get the government to assume the cost of this review. There’s a bit of a contradiction in asking organic farmers for money when we should be paying them because they’re doing it. I see in the document that there was funding for this, but the funds were taken from the AgriInsurance program.

Don’t you think that an organic standards review should constitute a recurring cost and should not be paid for using insurance funds for our producers?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

It would be great if we could pay for everything. What we want to do is make sure we have the appropriate standards in place to put organic farmers on a good standing. As I said to Alistair, there's no question about it, the demand for this product worldwide is big. In fact, I believe it's much bigger than we're producing. That's wide open for our farmers too.

We'll do everything we can, Mr. Perron, to make sure that these farmers have the equipment to proceed and expand. We want to be sure we expand, because as I said before, it's a big part of our economy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Minister and Mr. Perron.

Mr. McGregor for two and a half minutes.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Minister, last month I was in Vancouver with a few of my colleagues, and we were at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's AGM. They had a massive trade floor set up so that we could see fresh fruit and vegetable growers from right across Canada and even from the United States and Mexico. We got to see a great showcasing of the innovation and the technologies that the sector is driving at. That sector is one we need to celebrate.

Of course, one of the big topics there was ECCC's plastics policy. What I heard in some of the conversations in some of the breakout rooms was that the industry acknowledges that it needs to step up to the plate. There is an acknowledgement that plastics are harmful to our environment, but I think they want to do it in a way that does not impact food security and food safety, because there aren't many viable alternatives.

One of the big questions they have at this moment in time, and I'm sure they would be willing to hear your answer right now, is how you are engaging with ECCC on the development of that policy to ensure that their very real concerns are being met while trying to get to packaging that's not as harmful as plastics.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I realize that you fully understand the scope of the issue both ways and the problem. I can tell you that my department is involved and is working very hard with other sectors to come up with a recyclable plastic that would be acceptable to the environment. I don't need to go on there, because quite simply, we all know that the sea is full of plastics. However, we know that we have to be able to sell the beautiful fruit you saw at the show and put it in appropriate packages. We fully understand that.

An announcement was made by Environment Canada, but as you know, it's in the courts. I have to be a little careful with what I say, but we have to make sure that we have a packaging program in place that meets the requirements and that won't be offensive to the environment. As you said quite clearly, the people you were talking to agree with that. We do too, so we're working very hard to make sure we resolve this issue. We have to resolve it, and we have to resolve it in a way that does not hurt the farmers who produce these products. I can assure you that my eye is on that.

Thank you so much. I very much appreciate that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Minister MacAulay.

Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

We'll go to our final round, colleagues. It's five minutes for the Conservatives and five minutes for the Liberals.

We'll turn to you, Ms. Rood. I think you might be splitting your time, but you have five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair

Thank you, Minister, very much for being here.

To go a bit further on it, I have one question on plastics, Minister.

Did you consult with industry about the deadlines for the implementation of the timeline? One thing we heard loud and clear from industry was that they were not consulted and that the timelines are too quick for the implementation.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Of course I consulted. I'm involved in government moves that take place.

I can assure you, as I said to Alistair, that we want to make sure we put the appropriate... I'm sure you do too. I know that you care about this. The truth is that we have to come up with a package, and I'm sure our scientific experts will do that. There has to be a little push, and perhaps it will end up that we'll need some help. I don't know, but—

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

I think there's no doubt, Minister, that industry is trying to come up with alternatives, but as you know, we operate in a global supply chain, and there is nothing available on a global scale at this time. The timeline for implementation in this country alone, when we are part of a global supply chain, is the problem.

I challenge you to go back to the drawing board on that one. We all want to do better for the environment. We all, I think, in the industry want to do our best to reduce plastics as much as possible. We're looking at alternatives, but there is nothing available at this time on a commercial scale or a global scale.

Minister, you're also part of the working group on the grocery code of conduct. I'm just wondering if you could speak to efforts that are being made to have Walmart sign on to the code. Also, will the government legislate if Walmart does not voluntarily join the code?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

First of all, I want to thank you very much for your words on plastics. They're very helpful, and that's important.

We've indicated quite clearly a number of times that we want the grocery code of conduct to be led by industry. It also has to have fairness, transparency and some predictability. It's a very difficult program, I can tell you—

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

Minister, I just need an answer about Walmart. My time is running out. I have about 10 seconds left.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I can't order Walmart to sign. Loblaws came to the table, sat down, had a few changes made—or clarifications possibly—and all of a sudden they announced that they were in agreement. They're in agreement—

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

Will you legislate if they don't sign?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

What we're trying to work very hard to do is make sure that this is industry-led. That will work much better for the country.

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

Thank you, Minister.

I'll give my time over to Mr. Lehoux.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Rood.

Thank you, Minister.

I’d like to come back to the temporary foreign worker program. Ultimately, representatives from all agricultural and agri-food sectors were presented with a fait accompli: Your government decided to reduce the cap from 30% to 20%.

We’re hearing on the ground at the moment that the cap could be further reduced, from 20% to 10%, for the entire processing sector. Are you able to confirm or deny that information, Minister?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

First of all, thank you very much. I appreciate the question and I appreciate your concern about understanding the value of temporary foreign workers, which I know you do.

There are consultations in place. I would very much appreciate it if you make your voice heard to any sector that responds to you to make sure—

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Minister, I don't mean to be rude by interrupting you, but I asked you only to confirm or deny that information.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

You asked me a question, my good friend, and I want to give you a suggestion. Make sure the people who bring this issue to you are involved in the consultation process, because this is vitally important. Coming from Prince Edward Island and seeing all the processing we do, I fully understand the value of temporary foreign workers.