Agriculture Committee on May 19th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 20 of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the committee is commencing its study of the Main Estimates 2022‑23.

I will begin with a few reminders.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. The proceedings will be made available on the House of Commons website. For your information, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.

Screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.

Colleagues, that is again in the spirit of following the rules and regulations of the Board of Internal Economy as they relate to COVID-19 protocol.

It's great to see a committee room full again. It is starting to feel a little bit like normal. As was mentioned, we're going to be studying the main estimates.

We have our guests here today. We have our honourable minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau. Welcome, and thank you for your leadership and all your advocacy.

From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we have Sylvie Lapointe, vice-president, policy and programs branch. We also have Philippe Morel, vice-president of operations.

From the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, we have Paul Samson, who is the associate deputy minister

Welcome, Mr. Samson.

We also have Marie-Claude Guérard, assistant deputy minister, corporate management branch.

Welcome to you both here in the room, and welcome to our guests online, Ms. Lapointe and Mr. Morel.

We're going to start with a statement from our minister for up to seven and a half minutes, and then we'll take it over for questions. The second hour is with officials.

Minister, you have the floor.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Thank you, Chair. It's good to be back in, as you said, a full room.

We are here to review Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's main estimates for 2022-23, which total over $3.2 billion. These estimates reflect our government's significant commitment to the success of our farmers and food processors.

Over half of these estimates, more than $1.8 billion, will support key programs under the Canadian agricultural partnership with provinces and territories, which drives sustainable growth, innovation, and competitiveness of the sector. That includes our business risk management programs, with over $56 million to help farmers better manage risk through the elimination of the reference margin limit from AgriStability.

For this fiscal year alone, we are also committing over $589 million to support our dairy, poultry and egg producers and processors as they adjust to the impact of European Union and trans-Pacific trade agreements.

The amount of $137 million is to support and reward farmers for the adoption of environmental practices, including agricultural climate solutions and the renewed agricultural clean technologies program.

The estimates also include support to help potato growers in P.E.I. manage surplus potatoes due to the border closure. Mr. Chair, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the industry and government, on April 1, the U.S. border was reopened to P.E.I. table potatoes.

In the federal budget, we have committed a new investment of $28 million through ACOA and CFIA to ensure the long-term sustainability of the potato industry on the island. While these estimates reflect the current financial picture, I want to stress that we can still commit to new spending this year, as the need arises, through supplementary estimates.

The situation in Ukraine has worsened since we last met. I saw the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture at the G7 meeting in Germany last week and reiterated Canada's full support for Ukraine in its efforts to continue producing and exporting.

Since Ukraine is one of the leading global grain producers, the world has turned to other major producers, such as Canada, to take up the slack.

Our agricultural producers are prepared to accept the challenge but at the same time are facing higher input costs.

We are working with our partners and industry leaders to ensure our producers have ongoing access to fertilizer.

To help producers cope with cash flow problems this spring, we have amended the advance payments program so they can receive 100% of their advance, including the first $100,000 without interest.

We have also extended the AgriStability deadline to help more producers manage the risks to which they are exposed.

Since we last met, we have continued to invest new funding to help Canada's agricultural producers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their resilience to climate change.

In budget 2022, we have committed to allocating more than $1 billion in new funding to help our producers reduce their carbon emissions and continue supplying us with food in a climate change context.

We are tripling our investment in the agricultural clean technology program and expanding the on‑farm climate action fund.

We are investing $100 million in science and research to promote the development of sustainable crops and technologies.

We are also adding $150 million to cooperate with the provinces and territories in implementing the resilient agricultural landscape program.

Labour access is still a major challenge for the sector.

The 2022 budget reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that temporary foreign workers arrive on time and that they enter and stay in Canada in safe conditions.

We are investing more than $150 million to reduce red tape so trusted employers can quickly hire workers to meet their short-term labour needs and provide better protection for workers.

We have also announced major improvements to the temporary foreign workers program, or TFWP, to enable food processor employers to hire up to 30% of their workforce through that program.

Although we are striving to meet current challenges, such as the avian flu, we are also keeping an eye to the future.

Together with my fellow provincial and territorial ministers, we continue to work with the industry to develop the next agricultural policy framework for the period from 2023 to 2028.

We had an excellent meeting earlier this month in preparation for our annual meeting, which will be held in Saskatchewan in July.

I am satisfied that, by working together, we can implement our common vision of ensuring that Canada continues to be a global leader in sustainable food production.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am ready to answer questions from members of the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Minister.

I would like to take a moment to say that we have some Ukrainian interns in the room. They are here as part of a Canada-Ukraine program. There are 41 Ukrainian interns on Parliament Hill, and I want to thank them for their outstanding work.

We will now go to the period of questions.

Mr. Lehoux, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Minister.

I want to thank you and the people accompanying you for being with us today.

Minister, you promised to begin negotiations on the Canada—United States—Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, before the end of the year. As summer approaches, there are only four months left in which to do it. All industry players tell us that nothing has been done to date.

What's your timeframe, Minister?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

It's clearly stated in budget 2022 that we'll be providing all the information on compensation for poultry, dairy and egg producers and processors in the fall 2022 economic and fiscal update.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

That will go slightly beyond the first year.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

By a few days, no more.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

We know that the United States has challenged certain CUSMA measures. Each of the countries is claiming victory. It's always troubling to hear those kinds of remarks.

In addition, just last week, New Zealand said it intended to challenge import duties on dairy products.

What's your position on those challenges? How will Canada react?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I assure you that we're taking this very seriously and that our position on defending our supply managed sectors remains firm. I recently had two conversations with Secretary Vilsack, the first by telephone and the second when we met at the G7 in Germany.

Minister Ng also published our response to the demands that an expert panel made regarding the questions the Americans had asked. We are still satisfied that the amendments we've made are entirely consistent with CUSMA and the panel's demands.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

In the same vein, a question was asked earlier about the baby formula shortage. That issue was in the headlines last week. Despite the concessions that were made under the last agreement, we now find ourselves in a situation where young Canadian families are short of baby formula.

You said earlier that you were closely monitoring the situation. What are we actually doing to meet the needs of young families?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

We've discussed the baby formula shortage in the United States at length. The situation in Canada isn't the same for various reasons. Our supply comes from a number of sources and various suppliers. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada are monitoring the situation very closely and exercising greater flexibility so we can import baby formula from other countries as needed to meet demand. Canadian needs in this regard are far less than those in the United States.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Some media outlets in the Montreal area reported last week on concerns about the shortage.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

That's often the case when people learn that these types of problems have occurred in other countries and quickly become concerned. Impulse buying can also occur and exacerbate a shortage situation, but we're in good shape here in Canada. We have many suppliers and are flexible about imports from countries we trust.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

On another matter, I'd like to discuss the equally important labour shortage issue. You discussed it earlier in connection with the possibility that employers may hire more temporary foreign workers, especially in the processing sector. This is also a problem in the production sector, but the labour shortage is a glaring problem in the processing sector. Just yesterday, we learned that the Olymel company had been forced to reduce the number of hogs slaughtered from 37,000 to 25,000 a week at just one of its plants.

We know there are agreements between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and two other departments, Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Is there a clear plan here? I haven't heard of any new workers going to work in those plants since the announcements were made in January.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes, Minister Qualtrough did announce a number of measures specifically for food processing plants. The idea is to increase the percentage of foreign workers at a single plant by 10% to 30%. There's also talk of increasing the length…

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

We're announcing increases, Minister, but no one's coming in to work. That's not the problem. We hear you say you've relaxed certain practices, but that hasn't brought any more workers to our plants.

What's preventing that, Minister?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

We've really taken significant steps at the federal level to address the ground rules. We've allocated more resources to expedite file processing, which was previously done for producers and processors. The budget mentions additional resources that will help us move ahead with the trusted employers model. That measure will add flexibility and predictability for those employers, which are exemplary in the way they welcome their workers. The situation is really improving.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

I'm eager to see the actual result on the ground, Minister.

With regard to the 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer, we know that producers are starting to receive invoices. I could send you some that very clearly state the additional cost per metric tonne that tariff entails.

You answered my questions yesterday. The Prime Minister told me that support programs were in place. Minister, let's admit that these programs are financial support measures, loans that, once again, add to our farmers' debt.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm sorry, Mr. Lehoux, but your time is up. Others may raise that question later.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Turnbull, you now have the floor for six minutes.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Minister and officials, thank you for being here today. It's always great to see you. Thanks for making time in your busy schedule to answer the committee's questions.

It's clear to me that Canadians are increasingly concerned about climate change. It's alarming, I think, what we've seen, which is an increase in extreme weather due to climate change. It has really devastated many of our farms and farm families in recent years. Whether it's floods in B.C. or droughts in the Prairies, there's no doubt that these events will continue and are likely to increase in number and severity.

Earlier this year, the Government of Canada announced its plan to reach its 2030 GHG emissions reduction targets. Significant money was dedicated to that in budget 2022. Can the minister explain how the agriculture sector will benefit from this new plan and how it will meaningfully participate in the fight against climate change?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you.

You are so right. Our farmers are at the forefront. They are the first ones to be impacted by climate change. They are really committed to doing even better. We recognize that it has always been the priority for them to protect the environment. Actually, I was glad to see, in the last Statistics Canada survey, that two-thirds of our farmers have already started to adopt more sustainable practices.

We got more budget to expand our on-farm climate action plan, which is the one that provides direct financial incentives to farms that will adopt good practices, such as cover cropping, rotational grazing or better management of the fertilizer. We have also tripled the clean technology program, which was extremely well received for the first round. We can see that producers are eager to afford and to buy these new technologies. We are also investing in research and innovation to accelerate the development and commercialization of these technologies.

You've probably seen another program that will be coming, hopefully in collaboration with the provinces through the partnership agreement, which is the sustainable landscape program, a new program to increase the sequestration of carbon. We are really committed to supporting our farmers in adopting better practices and having access to new technologies that are energy-efficient.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Chair, I'll give the rest of my time to Ms. Valdez.

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

Thank you.

Minister, I appreciate your being here with your officials to answer all of our questions.

As you mentioned in your opening remarks, Ukraine is a major producer of grains that feed many other countries. The food shortages that will follow after Ukraine's unjustified invasion will be a problem. You met with the G7 agriculture ministers to discuss those challenges. I wondered if you could share with us those challenges and if you discussed any ways that you can address them.