Agriculture Committee on Sept. 28th, 2022

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

You mentioned the need to create a working group with farmers. Can you take 30 seconds to tell us more about that?

[Scott Ross]

There are so many different environmental policy initiatives under way right now that are interrelated in many areas, and what is needed critically, from our perspective, is a group that leverages farmers' technical experience and expertise in production on the ground with academic and technical experts and government officials to come together and ensure that the solutions we're putting forward are practical, do not constrain productivity growth for Canadian agriculture and will achieve the emissions reductions that are intended.

It's really just making sure that we're leveraging all the available expertise that's out there.

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

You talked about collaborative post‑disaster reviews as part of the agrirecovery framework. We had a rather striking example of a disaster in eastern Canada. Can you tell us more about that? Have you had a positive response? Will that collaborative review group be put in place?

[Scott Ross]

What I was referring to in my remarks was more disaster recovery response after the fact to identify prevention and mitigation measures. What's happening in the east right now in our discussion and dialogue with our members is an effort to identify what needs to happen in the immediate recovery response period. At this point in time, it's hard to determine exactly what that looks like, as there is still fact-finding going on about the scale and extent of impacts and what it will mean for recovery for Atlantic Canada.

We are connecting our members from across the country to learn from things like the atmospheric river flooding that happened in B.C. and responses that took place there. We're trying to ensure that we are providing connectivity across the country, but it's still very early days to comment on what's taking place there, other than to say that the devastation is significant and that we continue to hear very troubling reports about the impacts this is going to have on next year's production.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Ross.

Mr. Davison, I would feel terrible if I didn't ask you a question before my time is up.

You mentioned the importance of having science‑based regulations. Can you explain that in a minute or less?

[Chris Davison]

We talked about the importance of domestic policy to support exports, and it's very important. I think one of the previous witnesses on a previous panel referred to the need to have regulations in place that provide a clear pathway to support the innovation that was referred to earlier. We need a well-established, clear regulatory pathway that provides predictability for the developers of new technologies and innovations. They need to have a clear understanding of what that pathway is and the timeline from research and preliminary development through to commercialization, because the goal is to get these innovations into the hands of frontline producers who are doing the work for us so that we can increase our export capacity. That starts with production.

We need a clear signal from regulators. We need alignment internationally so that we have common standards and we need a risk-based and evidence-based system that supports those regulations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. Davison. Thank you, Mr. Perron.

Mr. MacGregor, you are going to finish us off for the evening. You have six minutes. It's over to you.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will bring it home for all of you.

Mr. Ross, I'd like to start with you. Certainly you are someone who wears many hats and you are no stranger to our committee.

We know that worldwide the losses in agricultural production due to climate change number in the billions of dollars. We know that future projections show that the situation is only going to get worse. We certainly have our own experience here in Canada.

We are very familiar with the amazing efforts that farmers are putting in place to reduce their emissions and to create carbon sinks, but I also want to change the conversation a little bit to how we are trying to prevent climate change from impacting production. Farmers are putting a lot of effort into increasing efficiency and increasing their production, but climate change is fighting this rearguard action that could take a big chunk out of that production as a result of forest fires, droughts and floods.

Do you have anything to share about the ways that farmers are trying to deal with that, whether it's employing new crop varieties or using different farming techniques to maybe innoculate themselves against extreme weather events? Do you have anything you could share with regard to the feds needing to step in a little bit more? It could even touch on some of the business risk management programs that help farmers get back up on their feet as quickly as possible.

[Scott Ross]

One element I'll touch on builds on Mr. Davison's comments on the need for regulatory modernization to allow access to new technologies and products to ensure that farmers can employ new varieties. This is something that is being done across Canada as these things become available to deal with the new pressures we are experiencing. However, the time lag on approvals delays our ability to leverage those technologies, so it is critical that we streamline our regulatory processes to make sure they are risk-based, outcome-based and targeted to ensure that farmers have the tools they need.

When it comes to risk management, I will say there is a real need, when it comes to disaster responses in particular, to take a step back, as I referenced in my comments. Bring industry leaders, technical experts and government officials together in the aftermath of disasters to learn from what happened and identify mitigation practices and prevention measures in a public-facing fashion. Start employing progress in those areas, so that when similar disasters happen in the future, we have learned lessons and employed improvements in programming, infrastructure and on-farm measures.

It is an opportunity for shared learning and common understanding to help ensure that we have that feedback loop and can respond in kind.

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

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Mr. Lemaire, I'd like to turn to you. In your opening remarks, you talked about the energy requirements of our greenhouses. In a previous life, I was involved in the construction of a greenhouse and putting together the boiler that keeps that facility warm, so I know how complex they are and how intricate those piping systems are.

In terms of energy, is there more that the Canadian government could be doing to help you access renewable forms of energy, whether it is reducing the costs of existing hydroelectric sources or tapping into geothermal energy? I wonder if you have any comments to share about that.

I'd like to have one more question too.

[Ron Lemaire]

You will. I'm going to be very quick and concise.

What you are talking about is a growth plan, and resiliency comes from a sound growth plan. Yes, Alistair, everybody is looking for new energy forms, but we have to look at everything as an integrated model. That includes our infrastructure, our people, our energy, our inputs and, as Mr. Ross noted, regulatory modernization.

As we bring all that together—the elements around climate change and the impacts that we're dealing with, atmospheric rivers and everything else—we can navigate it if we have a growth plan with those integrated pieces in place across multiple ministries. That's where the agriculture department has to lead and bring everybody else in to drive change.

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

The last question is for you as well.

I was at the breakfast event that you hosted last week. You were talking about half your plate being fresh fruits and vegetables, and you made mention of the national school food program that we want to see brought in.

Food security for our children is also linked to their health security. Maybe you could bring us home by linking those two concepts and telling us why healthy, nutritious food and food availability for children are so important in their growth and development and in health outcomes.

[Ron Lemaire]

Food security builds.... As we heard from one of the other witnesses, it comes back into your housing, it comes back to employment and it comes back to the affordability and availability of food. When children eat, they learn better. They are enabled and they're empowered to grow and develop, and that is our future.

If we are looking at our future, the foundational attributes come back to a school food program that can be delivered and supported, but it is linked also to all of those other key components, including affordable housing, as well as the key areas of getting people working and engaged in the economy.

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

I appreciate that.

Thank you to all of our witnesses.

With that, Mr. Chair, I'll cede my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. MacGregor.

On behalf of all committee members here in the room, let me echo the thank you to our witnesses.

To Chris Davison, Ron Lemaire and Scott Ross, thank you so much for your leadership in agriculture and your testimony here today.

Colleagues, that marks the end of the first meeting on this particular study. On Monday we will be carrying on with the study of Bill C-234. That is what is on the schedule. The clerk has worked to make sure that we have witnesses there, so we will continue on.

Thank you. Enjoy your weekend.

The meeting is adjourned.