Agriculture Committee on May 19th, 2022

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

Thank you.

Yes, last week we were in Stuttgart, Germany, for the G7. Actually, the agriculture minister of Ukraine was with us for a full day. It was an opportunity for us to better understand the situation. They are still hopeful and confident about being able to produce in one part of the country, but obviously there are huge challenges. The port of Odessa is not accessible at this time, so they are looking for alternative routes to be able to export.

With the other G7 countries, here in Canada we are looking at how we can support them in terms of getting the grain from last season out and sold to countries who need it desperately. It's a very important issue. He also talked about the fact that agricultural infrastructure has been targeted and destroyed. Grain is being stolen and sold. The challenges are huge.

Canada is a country with a lot of experience in the area of grain production and exports, and we share some of the biggest companies—they're established in Canada and in Ukraine—so we already know the network. We are trying different strategies to support them.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

You still have about a minute left, Mrs. Valdez.

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

I just wanted to see if there was anything from your opening remarks.... This is an opportunity for you to speak to or answer any other questions that you might not have had the opportunity to answer earlier.

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

There are so many things that come to my mind now.

Ukraine is a big producer of food. Countries are looking at us to step up and try to produce more next year, or actually this year, because unfortunately, with the drought we had last year, we don't have many surpluses, but we're really trying to step up for this season. According to the information we are getting from the industry, we expect, if the weather is on our side, to be able to produce about 7% more wheat. This is a demonstration that our Canadian farmers are stepping up to support food security in the world.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Minister and Ms. Valdez.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the minister and officials from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food for being with us today.

I'm going to continue the discussion on Ukraine. We've discussed the 35% tariff on Russia many times in this committee. Everyone agrees on the sanctions targeting Russia. However, the producers that placed orders and paid for them in the fall are being forced to suffer the consequences of the tariff.

Where are you in your analysis of this issue so these people can be exempted or compensated?

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

You have to take action when you want to help an allied country that's in the throes of an entirely unjustified war, as is currently the case. We felt the best way to do that was to impose harsh sanctions on Russia. We therefore charged a tariff on all Russian goods. We nevertheless allowed fertilizers and fertilizer products to enter the country because we knew how much our producers needed them to maintain high production levels and meet demand, which will be greater this year.

We're also considering other strategies regarding our supply chain and research and innovation to ensure we don't find yourselves in the same situation in future and to become far less dependent on Russia. The customs tariff applies to all fertilizers imported into Canada.

However, we also want to acknowledge that our producers are facing a significant increase in input costs this year, particularly as a result of this tariff. We've made changes to the advance payments program, and we're also considering other options…

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

I apologize for interrupting, but I have very little time.

You didn't really give me an answer concerning the orders that were placed before the sanctions were imposed.

Where do we stand there?

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

The tariffs apply.

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

So you've stopped working on it.

Is that correct?

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

We're looking at other options to support our producers, but not in the form of…

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

I see.

I think something has to be done.

Everyone's talking about grain exports. I contacted some other producers, serious people, who say they're troubled by the sharp increase in grain exports. The market's definitely attractive as a result of prices and other factors, but they're afraid there may be a shortage in Canada.

Have you come up with a plan to manage that?

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

No, there's no plan. Canada can't intervene or start controlling trade movements. Furthermore, at the G7 last week, we thought that, if we wanted to contribute to food security around the world, we had to set an example and that we definitely shouldn't start closing our borders. That could snowball and have a much more harmful impact on food security.

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

I've spoken to other producers who use grain to feed their animals. They're afraid there might be a shortage by the end of the year. I imagine the government has thought of that. I just want to reassure them by asking the question.

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

I understood your question differently.

The grain industry generally is a private and independent sector where people communicate very well. We've seen how resilient our supply chain is. People talk to each other, get organized and are aware of the situation. We know there will be a higher demand for grain. So we see producers organizing to produce more wheat this year. I'm satisfied they'll be up to the task. We're also very transparent. We give them as much information as possible, which helps everyone make informed decisions.

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

Thank you very much.

We'll wait to see what happens with the 35% tariff being imposed and with orders placed before the start of the war in Ukraine

Earlier, you spoke about the agri-stability program with Mr. Lehoux. You're saying that you are very hopeful about the meeting to be held in Saskatchewan.

Does this mean you're prepared to sign an agreement and that you're going to offer the 80% compensation rate that you proposed? Is that what we can expect?

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

That's what I'm hoping for.

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

Okay.

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

We want to increase the compensation rate, as you know.

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

That's a good answer.

On the environmental side, you're saying that you've developed new programs. We've been talking a lot with people from the sector, and the committee is currently conducting a study on that. People are hoping that the programs will be centralized as much as possible. They don't necessarily want fixed programs that would require completing forms, but would like to see more recognition for the positive steps taken by companies. You spoke about this at length earlier.

Are you considering the possibility of decentralizing programs as much as possible?

For new programs, are you taking into account what has already been done by farm producers, who have been innovative for many years now?

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

There are several parts to that question.

In terms of program decentralization, under the On‑Farm Climate Action Fund, we distributed funds to a dozen partners. They made proposals that were geographically adapted to their circumstances or to the sector they serve.

In Quebec, much of this went to the Union des producteurs agricoles, the UPA. It's a way of being more flexible by decentralizing programs to make them better suited to the producers' regional realities.

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

What's happening with recognition for pioneers who have already made an enormous effort in their field?

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

Needless to say, the purpose of our investments is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We want to get people to move on to the next phase. We're not looking at the past, but determining how we could do even more to reduce our emissions and increase carbon sequestration. So the programs are developed with this objective in mind.

As you know, Environment and Climate Change Canada is developing a program under which carbon credits will be handed out. The program is still being studied, and I'm not in a position to give you any further details, but it could well be an additional opportunity to recognize these efforts.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm sorry, Minister, but your speaking time has ended. I allowed you a little more time to answer the question.

Thank you very much, Minister and Mr. Perron.

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