Agriculture Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2024

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Not yet.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Transport is working on this issue. We're talking about 10 farmers right now. They will work on this issue, and our government will get it done.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

What I will say—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I will go to you, Mr. Barlow, in a second.

As your chair, I feel that we want to have a certain amount of leeway. I think Mr. Drouin is right that this is a transport issue. The minister is well within his right to be able to take questions in relation to any conversations he may have with the Minister of Transport.

To Mr. Drouin's point, I was in Ontario last week, and I do think this number is down to 10 instances, but certainly, Ms. Rood, you're well within your rights to ask about it.

I will go to Mr. Barlow, and then we'll move on.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

If the Liberal members want us to censor the questions we have for the minister, by all means, maybe we'll share them before the meeting, but I think it's up to us to decide what questions we ask the minister, not to have them approved by Liberal members before we ask those questions.

The Liberal Minister of Agriculture represents farmers, as he just said, so I think these are questions that farmers are asking, and we are advocating on their behalf.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Okay, we've established that.

Ms. Rood, you have 70 seconds left. I'll let you continue.

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

Sir, we've heard testimony from farm families on how the capital gains tax is effectively shutting down next-generation farmers. You've publicly stated that you were not consulted beforehand. I'm curious why you were not.

Was accelerating the decline of family-owned farms and the risks posed for Canadian farmland ownership considered when making these tax changes?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I have had many conversations in cabinet on many issues. I know that what you're referring to is that I indicated that I do not write the budget. I still say that I do not write the budget, but I do know what goes on with agriculture; however, I am not the Minister of Transport. It's difficult to answer questions that relate to other ministers.

On the capital gains tax—

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

Minister, I can ask another question on that, then, that would relate directly to you.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

—as you know, we increased the capital gains tax exemption to $1.25 million. You're fully aware of that.

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

Minister, how will this tax increase impact the economic viability of the family farm and the ability of next-generation farmers to carry out the tradition of farming?

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We're at time, Ms. Rood.

Go ahead, Minister, if you would like to finish.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Of course, for any small or medium-sized operation, with the tax change, it will mean that they pay less capital gains tax, and I think my honourable colleague is well aware of that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm going to turn it over to our honourable colleague from Malpeque, who is joining us virtually.

It's over to you, Mr. MacDonald.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here. It's an interesting conversation so far.

I'll go back to the original questions relevant to the crickets. There are a lot of crickets in that room, Minister.

The PM visited the incoming president in Washington. We never heard a word from the opposition praising that move. We have a new office in Manila which you opened up in the Indo-Pacific. We haven't heard a word about that. You went to China, and they're condemning you for going to China, which I think is a strange move. We have a new school food program where we're going to support local suppliers and farmers. We have a sustainable Canadian agriculture partnership. We talked about the interest in young farmers and, if we don't continue to build on that program, which is in the supplementary estimates....

Minister, I want to ask you a very specific question. Why do you think the Conservatives will vote against supplementary estimates when we have agreements with provinces and territories and when we're investing millions of dollars to help farmers and producers? They're saying that they represent farmers. I just heard that over and over again, but here's a program that is very significant in Atlantic Canada and very significant in Prince Edward Island that's been successful, and I'm still scratching my head and wondering why the Conservatives would vote against it.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Heath, thank you for the question, but it's awfully hard to answer questions for other people or departments.

You mentioned the school food and infrastructure programs. We had a great announcement on Prince Edward Island about the school food program. We joined with the Premier of Prince Edward Island. I understand there are just under 200,000 children receiving a meal every day in schools right across this country. That figure will continue to expand. It's so important that we have these programs in place. My wife, being a teacher, fully understands what happens when children.... Truly, kids go to school hungry. It's a tough situation. I'm certainly proud to be part of a government that is trying to deal with that kind of issue and put some food into the bellies of children. I'm proud of any other program, too.

Of course, with that, you're helping farmers, too. Everything we can do to have more food consumed helps farmers. There are many other programs we have.

Heath, I can't answer the question as to why the Conservative Party of Canada would vote against it. They could probably answer that question.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Minister, I want to turn to the beef industry.

Obviously, it's an industry you've worked very closely with and have a good relationship with, as many other Liberals in your caucus do.

I want to know how we are supporting the Canadian beef industry around the world to ensure those exports are maintained and maybe expanded into different countries.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

The office in the Pacific Rim area makes sure that we're there in that area. As I heard in China and the Pacific area, if you're going to sell products in those areas, you have to be there. You have to be present. That's why that office is open. It opens the market for beef. It also opens the market for potatoes. In fact, I believe the potato marketing board in Prince Edward Island is going to send four containers over there. It just opens more markets. It will open markets for grains and oilseed, too.

That's all so important. That's what we have to do. We have to expand our trade and diversify as much as we possibly can. I know we depend on the States. A large portion of our market is there. However, if there is anywhere else we can sell products, we want to do that.

As I said before, if you're going to sell a product somewhere, the government and people involved in the industry have to be there to answer questions from the importers. They're the ones who buy the product.

Thank you very much, Heath.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Chair, how much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

You're at 20 seconds, so if you want to get on my Christmas card list this year....

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Chair, I'll go back to the Minister.

If the funding is not approved due to delay tactics by the opposition, some of these local projects may not be achievable. I hope they see the light, put partisan politics aside and vote to continue to support our farmers.

Thanks, Chair.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I fully agree with you, Heath.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We're getting close to Christmas, so let's hope we can all find good, non-partisan spirit heading into it.