Agriculture Committee on May 19th, 2022

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

In his questions earlier, Mr. Lehoux mentioned the temporary foreign worker program. You've been promising changes forever, and we'd like an implementation date for these changes.

Could you tell us about one, at least?

In my riding, there is an asparagus producer who estimates his losses at $150,000 after being forced to mow his fields. He had requested temporary workers in April in order to make sure they would be there in May, but nothing has happened yet.

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

I can't give you a precise date, but I have money in the budget. I said “I”, but once again, it's the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion who is responsible for this. It's really moving forward, and the budget now has the amounts required to implement the programs we have been working on for a long time.

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

Excellent.

I believe I have 30 seconds left.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Perron, your speaking time is up and I'm going to have to enforce the rule.

Mr. MacGregor, it's over to you now for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, according to your governmental plan, I think there was a figure saying that 86% of Canadian farms were deemed financially healthy. You had the goal of a 90% figure, so you were close. What can you tell us about why you were not able to achieve your target?

Also, concerns have been raised, particularly by the National Farmers Union, about the amount of farm debt and how it has increased over the years. Typically, which farms and what sectors of Canada seem to be struggling at the moment? Does your department have a clear snapshot of those figures?

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

We have to recognize that in the last two years, farmers have had to go through unexpected situations with COVID, obviously, but also with extreme weather events. These are reasons that could explain the challenges that some of our farmers are facing.

I think our government was and is still there to support them. Last year, we had the biggest budget for the federal agricultural department in history, with $4 billion. I think this shows our commitment to supporting our farmers in these times of crisis.

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

Quickly, in the 45 seconds I have, last month I was invited by the Canadian Produce Marketing Association to attend its big convention in Montreal. It was very amazing to see the innovation that is going on with regard to packaging.

I know some of your cabinet colleagues are taking the lead on that, but do you have any updates on how you're working with the CPMA in particular in trying to drive that? I ask because it seems like there were some pretty amazing breakthroughs already on display on the trade floor.

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

Yes, I was impressed as well. This is the project I just mentioned about food waste. Recently we gave $376,000 to the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, and it is one very concrete example of the investments we are making toward having packaging that is either compostable or recyclable.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Minister and Mr. MacGregor.

We are moving on now to the final round of questions. The Conservatives have five minutes, and the Liberals also have five minutes.

Mr. Barlow, you have the floor.

[John Barlow]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have just two quick questions and then I'm going to pass it off to my colleague Mr. Epp.

Minister, more than a year ago Health Canada said that gene editing and CRISPR technology were safe, but you wanted to do a reassessment. When is that gene editing framework going to be announced? We've been waiting for more than a year.

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

I don't have a date for you yet. This is something we're working on, but I don't have a date.

[John Barlow]

We now have many farmers who are saying that their income taxes are being withheld from being processed as a result of Bill C-8, the carbon tax rebate, so they're not getting their income taxes done. Now the PBO has said the carbon tax is not revenue-neutral, doesn't reduce emissions and contributes to inflation. Therefore, wouldn't exempting the carbon tax from farm fuels like propane and natural gas be a much more efficient, easier, more beneficial and smarter way to go for farmers?

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

I would start by saying it would be good if we could get Bill C-8 approved. We could process the income tax returns of our farmers and we could send them the cheque for that.

You know our position on the price of pollution. We believe, and it's based on experience, that it is one of the most significant ways to reduce emissions. We have a historic budget to support our farmers in pivoting toward more sustainable technologies and practices.

[John Barlow]

The farmers who are waiting for their income tax refund are getting $200 or $300. That is far below what they're actually spending on the carbon tax, so it's not revenue-neutral.

I'll pass it over to my colleague. Thanks.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you.

I'm going to go back to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, PMRA. I was very encouraged to hear you say that this new oversight layer will be based on science. Did I hear correctly? Will it be only scientists who will be populating this expert panel?

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

Yes.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you. I'm pleased to hear that.

The August 4 announcement also put a pause on minimum residue limits, or MRLs. MRLs aren't established until all the health and safety concerns are addressed, and then they are basically a trade facilitation process. We have Codex internationally, which tries to harmonize all the world standards around that. Can you tell me what representations Ag Canada is making or you are making to the Minister of Health to get this moving and get this pause lifted?

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

We are moving actively. The consultation is done. I've been told the panel has identified almost all the experts, so it will be announced shortly. We are moving forward on this issue.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

I appreciate that answer on the expert panel, but now I'm talking about minimum residue limits and the setting of those minimum residue limits. That's something apart from the registration process. It's a part of it, but it's done afterwards. That's paused; it's done after health and safety concerns. Why is that being paused?

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

We said we wanted to look at the framework under which the PMRA is working, keeping it science-based, obviously. However, the law dates back to 2002, if I remember well, and we really felt that it had to be looked at and possibly modernized. The consultation has been done. I haven't seen the result of the consultation yet. It's just been completed. This is the process that is ongoing, and we have said that until we have completed this process, we will put the pesticide residue limit on pause.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you.

I'm going to switch to the topic of the grocery code of conduct. The fresh produce sector, the fresh food sector and the manufacturing food sector, just to bring some context around it, are larger than our auto sector in Canada. It is a huge sector. I have been hearing from food manufacturers, as recently as this morning, and from the fresh food sector. They're really emphasizing the need for a grocery code of conduct with integrity—to quote their words, one that “has teeth in it”—when it comes to a dispute resolution mechanism.

I understand there are aspects of this that are provincial in nature. However, how are you going to ensure that we have some unanimity across this country? No food manufacturer wants 10—or 13, depending on how you count—frameworks dealing with a code of conduct.

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

Yes. This is why we have put in place a committee with all the representatives of the different stakeholders in the industry. They are working on it right now. This has been requested by the FPT agricultural ministers. Minister Lamontagne and I are following this.

We have received the first report, the first high-level recommendation for the code of conduct, and now we have asked for a more concrete action plan to be presented to us during our meeting in July. We have also provided this committee the resources—the secretariat support—to make sure they are moving forward, and they are. I know that they have added new members on this committee, people who are really in the day-to-day business, not only the top management but those who really know how this business is being done day to day. I'm hopeful and confident that they will come forward with a very concrete action plan by July.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you. I will be raising this issue again, but I know my time is up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

That's your privilege. Thank you, Mr. Epp.

Thank you, Minister Bibeau.

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

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thanks, Chair.

I know that Canada is definitely a world leader when it comes to agriculture and agri-food, but I get really excited when we talk about innovation. In the work of this committee, we have undertaken several studies that have highlighted some really impactful innovations, whether it be research in soil science that can help to preserve the health of our soils, vertical growing, aquaponics, artificial intelligence or compostable packaging. There are so many opportunities for innovation.

I notice in the main estimates that there's a fairly large budget allocation of $711 million. Just as a starting question, how does that break down in terms of programming? I wonder if you or your departmental officials could help break that down for us.