Agriculture Committee on Feb. 10th, 2022

[Tom Rosser]

I will say, just rapidly, that as we reflect on the pandemic experience, certainly the idea of shortening supply chains in various segments of the sector is something that we've heard again and again. We don't to date have programs that are focused specifically on that purpose. We do have various programs that might be helpful to those looking to build more of a local food infrastructure. We also are thinking over the longer term in our discussions with provinces and territories how we can use our existing suite of programs or how it can be adapted to better support supply chain resilience.

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

Great.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.

Our last round of questioning will go to the Conservative Party for five minutes.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks again to our witnesses for being here and for giving us good information.

Mr. Rosser, I want to go back to the sector engagement tables. My concern here, I guess, is that we've taken a program and the value chain round tables and replaced them with something that isn't nearly as meaningful. Look at the names of these sector engagement tables—agile regulations, sustainability, consumer demand and market trends, and skills development. Nothing in there talks about what is actually the key issue we're talking about here, and that's the supply chain.

I asked you before, and I really didn't get an answer; I'm just curious to know whether one of these engagement tables will actually be addressing the supply chain issue. If so, can you tell me which one? Which stakeholders have they asked to be engaged in that process?

[Tom Rosser]

I'll say two things. Obviously, as has been noted, supply chains are complex things. There are different tables, thematic tables, that will deal with different aspects of them. There's one on agile regulation. We've talked a number of times about facilitating interprovincial trade and the like. We have a table for that—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Rosser, I'm sorry. I have only a limited amount of time. Basically, you're saying that this will be spread, that not only one of these tables will be focused on the supply chain. They will be nibbing at it on different topics. I get that.

I guess I'll go back to my first questions on the animal transportation regulations. You said that Ag Canada is not having a conversation with Health Canada on these regulations. I find that very disconcerting, in that obviously the agriculture sector is going to be impacted substantially with these regulations and the enforcement. I'm really disappointed in the fact that Ag Canada is not having any insider input on whether or not these regulations will be delayed from the February 20 deadline.

Are you telling me that Ag Canada is not having any part in the discussions on whether or not to delay these regulations?

[Tom Rosser]

I'm sorry if I misspoke earlier, but absolutely not; we are in very active dialogue with CFIA and with the concerned stakeholders about the issue and about a way forward.

The regulations themselves are the responsibility of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, but it doesn't mean we don't take an active interest in it and aren't in active dialogue with those concerned by them.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

The Liberal government just had a national supply chain summit to try to address some of these things. Can you provide the committee with a list of the agriculture and agri-food stakeholders who participated in that summit?

[Tom Rosser]

Sure. I think we can do that. I mean, there were the core agricultural stakeholders. Then, of course, there were railways and ports and retailers and others who take an interest in the agri-food value chain but aren't really part of it. You had both types of stakeholders participate in that summit.

I can't see any reason why we wouldn't be able to supply that to you.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

I'm going to pass the rest of my time over to Mr. Epp.

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

Thank you, Mr. Rosser.

I'd like go back to your reference that there was a round table now dealing with agile regulations.

Does AAFC have a comment about, as I understand, the proposal to add another layer of oversight, overview, another advisory panel dealing with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Certainly we're looking for more streamlining obviously based on science, based on safety, but how does adding another layer to an already rigorous, worldwide-respected regulatory process in Canada add or feed into a more agile regulatory environment?

[Tom Rosser]

Again, this is a Health Canada lead, but it's something we take an active interest in. The existing legislative framework dates to, I think, 2002 or thereabouts. There is an idea to try to add some—while keeping it rigorously based in science—predictability, transparency, to have a look at the framework and to get some outside expert voices into the process. I think that's the motivation behind that.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We'll go finally to Mr. Louis for five minutes.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses.

Mr. Rosser, I would like to continue. I was going to ask about the sector engagement tables. You didn't get a chance to answer, so maybe you can expand on it. That supply chain summit was one that we held. Also we had the sector engagement tables, creating that dialogue between ag sector reps and government officials. You referred to it as talking with outside expert voices to create that dialogue.

I know you mentioned the four topics: agile regulations, sustainability, consumer demand and skills development. Can you give us an overview as to how those discussions are going as they relate to our supply chain issues?

[Tom Rosser]

What I would say with respect to the sector engagement tables is we have moved from having about 15 or 18 very commodity focused tables—there was one for sheep and one for grains, and so on—to more thematic-based tables. I've named some of them and I think we can get you a complete list.

With COVID we were a little bit delayed in standing up the sector engagement tables. Some of them have been active for some time. Others are in the midst of getting stood up. There are several of them that I think can provide input into some of our thinking around supply chains.

I would make the point, though, that sector engagement tables are not our only mechanism for talking to industry about these issues. We talked about the Transport Canada value chain process. We have our own Food Sector Network. We've done outreach with industry independent of those tables on both the B.C. floods and COVID so we have a lot of other mechanisms. We've got our food policy council, as well, so we've got lots of different mechanisms to engage with people on supply chain-related issues.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you.

One of the things we've heard is a bit more about the shortage of skills, of skilled labour. That was one of the pillars there.

When you're talking about skills development, are you referring to immigration, getting more youth or people who aren't formally in the sector into the sector? Can you expand on what your definition of skills development would be?

[Tom Rosser]

When you think about the short- and long-term aspects of this, it's all of the above. Certainly, attracting people to careers in this sector and looking at how over time automation can upskill some of these jobs and reduce reliance on lower-skilled labour, temporary foreign workers, pathways to permanent residency, all of those things are part of the solution to what obviously is a fairly complex and enduring problem.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you.

Yes, I forgot to mention automation, which is something we have studied previously. I appreciate that.

I would be remiss if we didn't mention those border crossings. You mentioned the border crossings, the blockades that are happening in Alberta with the cattle industry and feed not getting there. Also you mentioned Windsor, which affects our greenhouse sector, and I think you said pork, and fertilizers and other inputs. You did also say that we're heavily dependent on inputs for fruits and vegetables, especially in winter. I understand we have a just-in-time system.

Trying to stay on top of that issue, these orders are being cancelled. It sounds like these border interruptions are going to start affecting grocery shelves. Can you tell us more about how long we have before the interruption of food from these blockades is going to actually be seen for consumers?

[Tom Rosser]

I hesitate to put a timeline to it. Obviously it's concerning when major border ports of entry are interrupted. One hopes that the situation will not endure much longer, but the longer it does, the bigger the risks of visible disruptions, whether they are animal feed, live animals or input of food destined for grocery stores.

Certainly it is worrisome, and one hopes that the situation won't persist to the point where that becomes a major issue.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you very much for being here.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's my time, I believe.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. Louis.

To our witnesses, Ms. Akman and Mr. Rosser, thank you on behalf of the committee for being here.

We're going to move to our second panel.

Colleagues, please don't go far because this is going to be a quick transition, and we're going to get right into the second panel. Just hold tight, and we're going to get rocking and rolling.

That was a very quick transition.

Thank you to all our witness, and indeed, our clerk and our wonderful team in the room making this happen.

We'll start with the second panel, and today we're fortunate to have a number of witnesses who are joining us by video conference.

First, from Agri-Food Innovation Council, we have Serge Buy, who is the chief executive officer. From the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, we have Bob Lowe, who serves as the president; and Fawn Jackson, who is director of policy and international affairs. From Food and Beverage Canada, we have Kathleen Sullivan, who serves as the chief executive officer.

We're going to have five minutes for opening comments.

I'm going to start with you, Mr. Buy.

[Serge Buy, Chief Executive Officer, Agri-Food Innovation Council]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.

All parts of the agri-food supply chain are facing challenges that predate the pandemic. Food production is impacted by diseases, pests, weather-related events—think of the drought in the prairies in 2021 and the fires, then the floods in British Columbia—workforce availability, capacity to adopt new technologies, etc.

Processing and packaging are also impacted by the lack of an available workforce, a lower adoption of new technologies than some international competitors and, during the pandemic, challenges to adapt to new needs. We have seen strikes, blockades, floods, fires and other events have an impact on logistics.

Distribution is facing its own challenges that are also related to the lack of an available workforce.

Others, very competent witnesses, will focus on regulatory, financial and workforce availability issues. The Agri-Food Innovation Council would like to concentrate on the role that research and innovation can play to solve some of our supply chain issues.

Thanks to research and innovation, we have developed crops that are hearty in our cold climate, as well as resistant to some pests and diseases. Examples of those exploits include canola, which now represents close to $12 billion in exports. On the other side of the spectrum, we've also developed new varieties of vines, despite minus-30-degree weather. I'm sure Mr. Drouin will invite all of you to visit Stonehouse Vineyard near Alexandria, one of the newest wineries that produces great wines.

We all know that the weather is changing. While it can be slightly awkward to speak about global warming as most of us are still shovelling snow—well, maybe not Mr. MacGregor—it requires us to prepare for events and diseases that will continue to impact food production in Canada. The 4DWheat project, supported by Genome Prairie and Ontario Genomics, as an example, is looking at enhancing yield and managing risk from important diseases.

We also need to focus on making Canada more self-sufficient, thereby addressing food security. Food prices are increasing and fruits and vegetables are becoming more expensive, leaving segments of our population unable to provide healthy choices to their families. As an example, investing in technology to make vertical farming produce more, sustainably, and at lesser costs is one of the ways we can address this. Increased local production will also diminish strains on the system. Far be it for me to suggest that we'll start producing and exporting pineapples from Nunavut, but can we provide various communities the ability to produce the food they need at a decent cost? I applaud the initiative announced Tuesday by the Weston Family Foundation to invest over $33 million in developing innovation hubs to look at growing vegetables and fruits year-round in Canada.

On processing and packaging, it is important to continue to invest in robotics, artificial intelligence and big data systems. That is crucial for the future of the sector. Logistics also have major challenges, from the use of spreadsheets to analyze the routes to a reliance on 19th century transportation models. The sector will benefit from research and innovation that modernizes its operations. We are seeing drone deliveries of food, medication and PPE to rural and remote regions in Canada.

We're pleased to see large companies, such as telecoms, getting involved. Telus is an example of a telecom that moved efficiently into the agri-food space by launching Telus Agriculture to provide solutions. Professor James Nolan, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, indicates that the use of quantum computing would increase efficiency in logistics, while at the same time raising concerns about affordability of the technology. We should also research this.

We need a coordinated approach to deal with today's challenges and address tomorrow's problems. AIC, supported by dozens of organizations, has called for the development of a national strategy on agri-food research and innovation. The effort should be co-led by governments and industry and focus on a few tangible, achievable objectives with measurable results in a tight timeline. A broad strategy will enable a proactive approach to some of today's challenges and enable us to avoid some of tomorrow's crises.

Thank you. I will be pleased to take questions in English or in French. Merci.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. Buy.

We're going now to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.

Mr. Lowe, it's over to you.

[Bob Lowe, President, Canadian Cattlemen's Association]

Thank you.

As you mentioned, I'm Bob Lowe. I'm a beef producer in southern Alberta and also the president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. With me is Fawn Jackson, our director of policy and international affairs.

Thanks for inviting us to discuss the supply chain challenges in Canada's beef sector, and to identify potential solutions to build resiliency by working together as industry and government.

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew there would be global supply chain disruptions. We were encouraged to see the Government of Canada recognize agriculture as an essential service to ensure the continued flow of goods across Canada and internationally.

While the sector has over the last three years performed remarkably well under the circumstances, the combination of the pandemic and severe weather has identified areas that need to be further strengthened for long-term resilience. Supply chain challenges have included a lack of redundancy in processing capacity, shortages of labour, major trade route interruptions and supply chain impacts due to severe weather such as fire, flood and drought.

If we can learn one lesson from the last three years it's that investment in resilient infrastructure; quick, responsive emergency programs; and a prioritization of trade are critical to long-term resiliency. Our sector has identified key investments that will help build resilience to current and future stresses.

Investment in labour is needed across agriculture and industries that transport agricultural goods. The global market for Canadian agricultural products is expanding rapidly, but persistent labour challenges are jeopardizing its growth potential as well as its resilience in the face of challenges such as COVID-19.

In 2017, 16,500 jobs went unfilled in our sector, which cost us $2.9 billion in lost revenues. In every province and across every commodity, labour shortages impact today's production levels and resilience in supply chain for tomorrow's growth potential.

I mentioned the global market above. We are a trade-dependent industry exporting 50% of what we produce in the beef sector. We need to be able to get our products to market, but also to import products when faced with challenges such as processing capacity. When we've had trade interruptions they've had some of the biggest impacts on our resilience as a sector and thus the resilience of our food supply chains.

Continued investment in prioritizing trade, diversification of markets, and new and increased investment in addressing non-technical trade barriers is key to Canada's economic growth and stable supply chains.

On that note, I would like to thank both Minister Bibeau and Minister Ng for their help recently in getting South Korea and the Philippines to reopen their borders, and to all members of this committee for reaching out with their offers to help whenever they can.

Investment in the transportation corridors to withstand extreme events is critical for long-term success. Roads, rail, ports, etc., need to be maintained and ready for the impacts of climate change with prevention—an example would be dikes—and redundancy—an example would be alternative routes—being key. Also, rural infrastructure needs to be prioritized and invested in significantly by the broader community, as it is the basis of much of Canada's GDP.

We recommend committing essential rural infrastructure investments, including but not limited to irrigation, roads, bridges, flood mitigation, and expanding on rural broadband Internet that is both reliable and affordable.

Now I'll turn it over to Fawn.