Agriculture Committee on March 31st, 2022

[Karen Proud]

—may have been purchased—

[An hon. member]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Proud, we're getting a lot of feedback from your mike.

I'll suspend for a second, and we can see if we can get that figured out.

Mr. Barlow, I've stopped the clock.

Madam Clerk, I'll take some direction from you as well. If we can't get it resolved, we'll have to turn it over to Mr. Graham to finish.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Barlow, we're going to continue. I have you at two minutes.

I'll let you pick up from wherever you left off.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

Please answer quickly, because I have a couple of other questions.

Ms. Proud, ships that are en route with fertilizer from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to off-load in Canadian ports. You were saying that some have already done so.

[Karen Proud]

Ships that were en route before the sanctions—

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm sorry, Ms. Proud. We're having issues.

Mr. Barlow, you'll have to direct your questions through Mr. Graham.

I apologize, Ms. Proud.

I'll let you continue.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Graham, I understand that other countries, such as the United States and Brazil, are going to exempt fertilizer imports from tariffs. You and Ms. Proud were talking about having a level playing field in Canada with our producers.

What would be the implication of a level playing field and our competitiveness internationally if we are or are not imposing the tariffs in other countries?

[Clyde Graham]

If there were a 35% tariff that applied to Russian fertilizer, with any imports coming to Canada, the farmers would be paying...or if the supply chain, however it were impacted.... It would mean a 35% higher price in Canada than in other areas. However, it would depend on—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

I have one last question.

I understand that Global Affairs Canada has developed a guidance document to address some of these questions and give you some clarity. The United States has already made public similar guidance documents. Are you aware of this document from Global Affairs Canada?

[Clyde Graham]

I haven't personally seen it. I don't know if it's gone through other staff to our members yet.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Ms. Proud, can you shake your head one way or another to give us a yes or a no? No.

Knowing that, Mr. Chair, as my time runs out here, I would like to table a motion at committee:

That the committee request from Global Affairs Canada any guidance documents surrounding the application of sanctions being applied to fertilizer inputs imported into Canada be tabled with the committee and published on its website.

I can send an email to the committee with the wording on that, but I'm happy to read it again, if so desired.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I think it was relatively clear. I'm sitting in Nova Scotia, and I could understand, but I'll take some guidance from the room and from the clerk as to whether or not members need that to be discussed.

My understanding, Madam Clerk—and jump in if I'm wrong here procedurally—is that this is something we'll have to deal with. I would prefer for us to be able to get through the questions. Perhaps make sure that the motion is disseminated, if that's okay with Mr. Barlow, to proceed forward.

I see Mr. Turnbull's hand.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I wonder if we could have the motion circulated. I prefer to see it in writing in both official languages. I always like to be able to read something like this before I can feel confident in supporting it.

Thank you for that. I appreciate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Barlow, I'm not sitting right beside you, but I think you're quite reasonable.

While we have our witnesses here and given the fact we were a bit delayed from the House, we want to get through the next round of questioning. Are you okay to make sure that's distributed and we'll make sure we deal with it before we adjourn here today?

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Yes, the email has been sent out to all the members. I'm fine if we vote on it at the end of this meeting today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to move forward, then.

I have Mrs. Valdez for five minutes. Then we'll have Mr. Pharand and Mr. MacGregor and we're going to wrap up.

We'll go over to you, Mrs. Valdez.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses who are here today.

In previous committee meetings we discussed the devastating climate impacts on agriculture and ultimately on supply chains. Mr. Graham, you mentioned it as well.

Fertilizer Canada recently shared the announcement of a renewed agriculture partnership to provide Ontario growers with sustainable solutions.

Could you share with us how this announcement will assist Ontario agriculture moving forward?

[Clyde Graham]

I'm not sure I have the details on that agreement. We have a number of different agreements with the provinces.

Karen, do you have details on that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Proud, I apologize, but we're not getting any sound from you at all.

I know this has been difficult. Mrs. Valdez, perhaps you could ask for that to be tabled.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

I'm going to ask it a different way.

Essentially, it's renewing the memorandum of co-operation for the 4R nutrient stewardship program. That's kind of a refresher. I want to know how that would benefit—

[Clyde Graham]

That's great.

We have memorandums of understanding with a number of provinces, including Ontario, to work with their departments of agriculture and environment and with grower groups to advance the 4R nutrient stewardship program. A lot of the work in Ontario has been to reduce phosphorus loss into Lake Erie.

Of course, if farmers are using the 4Rs to improve the efficient use of fertilizer generally, that has significant benefits related to emissions of nitrous oxide and mitigating climate change.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Can you share whether those best practice principles will help reduce the amount of fertilizer that's required in Canada?

[Clyde Graham]

The amount of fertilizer used in Canada tends to be based on the yields that growers are trying to achieve. Improving the efficiency of fertilizer generally tends to lead to higher yields, but not necessarily a reduction in actual fertilizer use.

What we would like to see and what we aim for is that the yields grow faster than the consumption of fertilizer.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Earlier we talked about how we want Canada to be a reliable source. How does the 4R nutrient stewardship help growers reduce environmental impacts or potentially help with soil health?