Agriculture Committee on May 19th, 2022

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Welcome back to our committee, Minister. It's good to see you again.

My first question has to do with the news from April when the changes to the temporary foreign worker program were made. You presented an increase in the maximum duration of the position, the ability to hire up to 30% of the workforce in seven employment sectors, etc., and I know that in your mandate letter from December of last year you were given instructions by the Prime Minister to work with several of your cabinet colleagues, notably the Minister of Employment and Workforce Development and also the Minister of Immigration.

I know that most farms have a very solid relationships with their workers, but there have been reports from the National Farmers Union, and from the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change about the rights of those workers. They play such a critical role in our agricultural economy, but there have been instances of documented abuse.

Part of your mandate letter asks you to specifically strengthen the inspection regime to ensure the health and safety of temporary foreign workers. We want to ensure that everyone who comes here to work is treated with dignity and is paid appropriately for the work they do and that they have the proper working and safety conditions.

Can you update this committee on how you're making out with that specific instruction in your mandate letter?

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

I'm working on this, obviously, with Minister Qualtrough, and we've seen also in the budget that we have additional resources to put in place the trusted employer program. We are working on the criteria and what this trusted employer program will look like, but the idea behind it is really to incentivize all the employers to be even better employers and to reward those who are acting appropriately.

I think this will be an additional incentive for the employers to realize how important it is, and how it is to their benefit to give additional and even better conditions to their employees. I have absolutely no pity and no sympathy for the bad ones, and with Minister Qualtrough, because it's more under her authority, we are looking at the inspections, let's say.

We are trying to put this in place along with a clarification of our expectations regarding what it means to be a good employer. I think it's important to clarify that.

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

Thank you for that.

Regarding our country's recent experience in going through two years of the pandemic, it is actually pretty amazing how well many of our sectors stood up to that extreme challenge. That said, though, when the Auditor General examined your department's response, it was recommended that the department complete a national emergency preparedness and response plan for a crisis affecting Canada's entire food system. Can you provide the committee with an update on what progress has been made on that?

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

I would say that at this point we are more at the stage of evaluating what has been done and where we can improve—

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

Is there anything specific, such as on the processing sector? Our committee's made recommendations to that effect. Not just the challenges but also the solutions are quite well documented. Is there any progress on that?

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

No, I'm not ready yet. It's a work in progress. I'm not ready to respond, but I'll be happy to get back to you.

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

Okay. I'll move on, then.

I know that one of the items you want to move ahead with, too, is a fertilizer reduction strategy. I know that right now you're doing consultations, so nothing is firm at the moment. We have certainly heard expressions of concern from farmers. They are concerned that reducing the amount of fertilizer they can use could potentially impact their yields. I would argue, though, that there are also other ways of farming that can be employed quite successfully with a reduction in fertilizer use. It helps the farmers' bottom line and they also enjoy very healthy yields.

I know you're in consultation, but I also know that the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food is staffed by incredibly brilliant scientists. Have they presented to you any options on how to make this plan a feasible one?

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

Yes, we're working closely with the Department of Environment and the team at Agriculture Canada, obviously, with great scientists, as you said.

I just want to clarify one thing: It's not a reduction of fertilizer but a reduction of the emissions caused by it, just to be sure that everybody understands the same thing.

Yes, we are trying to do more, and are actually being ambitious. We have an ambitious target, but I think this is what we need to push us, all of us—the industry, the scientists, the businesses, the farmers—to really step forward and try to find new ways. I believe that with all the investments we are making in research and innovation, we will find new types of fertilizers or new practices that will help us achieve this goal.

Recently I had a conversation around our protein supercluster. There's something coming out of it that would bring us a new type of fertilizer that would generate fewer emissions. This is just one example. I'm very hopeful.

I think that by pushing ourselves into innovation in practices, technologies and inputs themselves, we'll find a path forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

We'll now turn to Mr. Barlow for five minutes.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks, Minister, for coming.

I just want to make sure I'm clear on some of your answers. You will not be exempting the 35% tariff on any fertilizer purchased before March 2, is that correct?

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

At this moment we're not contemplating this position. We're more looking at alternatives, at different options to support farmers.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Then no, you're not going to be offering that. From what I'm getting from your answer, your solution to this is expanding the advance payment program, allowing producers just to take on more debt. There's not going to be any specific compensation for that fertilizer tariff.

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

We're working with the industry to really understand the needs, what sector and where, and what mechanism would be the most appropriate to support that.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Okay.

Is there any other G7 country enforcing a tariff on fertilizer?

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

I don't think so.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

No.

Knowing, from the COP26 announcement on fertilizer reduction, which you have changed to fertilizer emissions reduction, is this 35% tariff on fertilizer just another way to push fertilizer use reduction on Canadian producers?

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

There are two different things here. On one side we are supporting Ukraine with severe sanctions on Russia, and we're being strong on that. On the other side we are—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Right, that no other G7 country is doing—

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Barlow, you asked a question. I know you have to manage your time—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

But she's—

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'll watch the clock, but let the minister please have her opportunity to respond.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Okay, Mr. Chair.

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

On one side, we're supporting Ukraine; on the other side, we're being ambitious on reducing emissions because we know it's essential for the future of our agriculture.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

If the issue is helping Ukraine, anything that was purchased before March 2 does nothing to help Ukraine.

We are in the midst of a food crisis. You've talked today about how we need to increase yields. Does it really make sense to decrease yields and decrease fertilizer use when we have to fill the void of losing 20% of the world's wheat, barley and sunflower oil production? Does that make sense to you?

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

We're not reducing yields. We are supporting our farmers in different ways.

Actually, from the information I got, we expect to have 7% more wheat this year, if the weather is with us, obviously.