Agriculture Committee on June 9th, 2022

[Peter MacDougall]

Thank you for that.

I would say that the food crisis is happening now, and it could get much worse as time goes on, particularly if we do not see action on Ukrainian exports but also on Russian exports, which they are restricting.

What's the strategy in place for Canada and I think for many other donors? The strategy continues to be to provide support and investment to respond to humanitarian needs. Canada will continue to do that.

I know that at the G7 I expect there to be a moment when countries announce new commitments and investments to respond to both the situation in Ukraine and also to the global food security crisis that is a consequence. I think you will see new investments there. Certainly, the international community, led by the UN, is galvanizing countries and international financial institutions to come together with a collective plan to respond. I think that in a couple of weeks you'll see significant action on that at the G7.

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

Thank you very much.

Could that aid also go into permanent investments to foster food self-sufficiency in these areas, rather than providing one-time aid in which food is given? A significant portion of this aid could be used to build permanent structures, irrigation structures.

[Peter MacDougall]

Thank you very much.

I couldn't agree more with you, and that's why our response, both before the Ukraine crisis and since, has been to balance our investments. As I've described, we have made significant investments in direct humanitarian assistance in meeting immediate needs, but we also continue to make systemic investments, whether it's in climate-smart agriculture, developing food systems or changing the policy and regulatory environment of countries to reduce barriers in the marketplace. That's the balance that Canada follows. That is also the balance that most leading donors in the agricultural space follow.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. MacDougall.

Thank you, Mr. Perron.

Mr. MacGregor has ceded his two and a half minutes. As your chair, I haven't had the opportunity to ask a few questions, so if you'll permit me two or three minutes, I will do so.

Thank you, Mr. MacDougall and Ms. Denham.

We heard from the minister and also from Madam Klymenko about the explicit targeting of the plant-breeding research station in Kharkiv. We heard from FAO officials this morning that there is work under way to try to salvage, I'll say, those 160,000 different varieties and plant-breeding types.

I can only assume that it is extremely important to rebuild that stock. We know how important the research has been in Canada to develop weather-resistant varieties and even canola and different types of that nature. Is this something you're aware of and is there something that Canada can do to be a part of rebuilding that system? Is that something that GAC is aware of and looking at?

[Tara Denham]

Again, on that one, actually, I'm very interested to hear about it. It has not been a part of this specific request that Ukraine has made to Canada. Those requests have come to the Minister of Agriculture, of course, and then through Global Affairs. That specific situation has not been brought to our attention at this point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

As it relates to those requests, we heard from the minister about tree saplings, phytosanitary measures and different types of equipment that can help on that end. What's the status on that? How long ago did that come in as a request?

[Tara Denham]

For the situation that you've just described, in that case we haven't received that request.

On the request we've received via the Minister of Agriculture for some of the lab equipment, I think that letter was received approximately two weeks ago. Again, that would have been received directly by the Minister of Agriculture, but we've been working with agriculture and CFIA to identify what we can do, what that would look like and how we can respond.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much.

I have two other quick questions.

Mr. MacDougall, you mentioned many of the different initiatives that are under way by G7 partners in other countries around the world. Who is helping to try to coordinate as it relates to global food security? I know that the United Nations FAO would have some ability to convene individuals on that side, but is there some special envoy?

Is there someone who is trying to bring all the different initiatives together to help coordinate and rationalize? If there isn't, is that something that Canada, with our deep expertise in agriculture, could offer in terms of someone to serve as a special envoy to try to help coordinate the multiple efforts at play?

[Peter MacDougall]

Thanks for that.

I would say there are a number of mechanisms and tools that bring countries together to discuss that. One is a legacy from the 2008-09 crisis that was started by the G20, called the GAFSP, which is a global assistance facility. That has been active.

Both the Americans, Secretary of State Blinken, and the convened countries... Minister Joly, attended in the UN a couple of weeks ago. The UN is playing a coordinating role. A number of countries have named special envoys.

I would say that the overall coordination is still emerging, but the G7 is playing a critical role right now to bring donors together—both the G7 and beyond.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I have a final question.

The prospect of trying to broker some type of trade corridor out of Odessa and out the Black Sea was mentioned. Minister Solskyi certainly spoke to the fact that the United Nations is leading that effort. It seemed to be a little bit outside of the scope of having Ukraine directly involved.

What is Canada's role in those conversations? Is that through Ambassador Rae and the delegation we would have at the UN, or is it something we are explicitly involved in trying to help find a pathway to get grain to market?

[Peter MacDougall]

Thank you for that.

As you can imagine, it's a very delicate negotiation that the UN, the Turks, and then at some point, Russia and Ukraine will need to engage in, if they haven't already, on that. We're watching it very closely, mostly through a G7 working group that I sit on, but also our ambassador in Ukraine will be watching it very closely, as will Ambassador Rae. In fact, we had discussions about it when Minister Joly was in New York a few weeks ago.

That's one that really offers the greatest promise in terms of the volumes, but it is politically the most challenging. There are also some very obvious safety risks as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Colleagues, thank you very much for indulging me for a few questions.

Mr. MacDougall and Ms. Denham, thank you for your participation. We ran a bit long, but your testimony is very helpful to the work that we're doing.

And thank you because the work you're doing is extremely important. It ties into everything that we've been discussing over the last two hours.

With that, colleagues, we'll let everyone enjoy their evening.

We will see you back on Monday.