Agriculture Committee on Nov. 28th, 2022

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay. Was the CFIA consulted prior to supply management being added onto the list—onto the order?

[Michèle Govier]

We engage with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; we did not deal directly with CFIA. I am not sure whether AFC did at the time or not.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Was CBSA were they consulted?

[Michèle Govier]

CBSA was consulted because they administer these types of measures. We always make sure to engage with them so that they are prepared for it.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I'm just wondering about the tariff relief explicitly. Was it requested by Ukraine, or was this something that we did on our?

[Michèle Govier]

Canada did so. I mentioned other partners that had also taken these measures, so I would say it was kind of a collective measure between us and like-mined partners, including the EU and U.K. There was a measure by the U.S. as well.

I believe Ukraine has identified an interest in various economic measures that could help its situation. I can't remember specifically if this was one, I apologize, but it's possible that they did, so I shouldn't rule it out, but I don't recall exactly.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay, and just to note, countries in the EU don't have supply-managed sectors; it's something that is unique to Canada. From what we've heard today, hearing that the EU has an impact on what Canada does and not taking into account that we have supply management, it sounds like we're allowing other regions like the EU to actually have more control over our own supply-managed system here in Canada than we do in Canada with some of these things.

One—

[Michèle Govier]

Can I address that quickly?

There's no supply management system in those countries, but there are areas of sensitivity, and these were broad-based measures, both by the EU and the U.K. The U.S. one was narrower but also in a sensitive area of steel. There are different considerations that countries have to take in doing these types of measures, and we weren't simply following one or the other; it was a self-assessment as well.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay, thanks.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, John Barlow]

Thanks, Ms. Rood. Thank you very much.

Now we'll go to Ms. Taylor Roy via video conference. You have five minutes.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. I just want to start by establishing some facts as I understand them. This Special Import Measures Act, the remission order, came into force on June 9, 2022. Is that correct?

[Michèle Govier]

That's correct, yes.

Sorry, just to clarify this, though, the Special Import Measures Act is a different law. It's just the remission order, which relieves—

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay, so it's the remission order.

How much has been imported in the approximately six months since it came into effect?

[Michèle Govier]

The total imports in that time had a value of $8.55 million.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

It was $8.55 million. Was any of that in the supply-managed sector?

[Michèle Govier]

Just that one importation I referred to earlier, the importation of ice cream.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

The ice cream, yes. Okay, so there's been one importation in six months.

This is supposed to be in effect for one year according to the remission order.

[Michèle Govier]

That's right, yes.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay, so we're halfway through it, and there's been one import of ice cream, basically.

[Michèle Govier]

Yes, that's right.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay. Will the imports under this affect our supply-managed sectors' quotas at all?

[Doug Forsyth]

No, we don't see the importations affecting the quotas at all. The importations under the remission order would be over-quota importations, so there would be no effect on the quotas themselves.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay. I'm just trying to understand the concern. Obviously, our supply-managed sector is very important. I have a cousin with a chicken farm and we know how important this protection is, but I also know that in the fall economic statement, Minister Bibeau allocated $1.7 billion, I believe, to the sector, to compensate for any impact under CUSMA, and we've said that we're going to basically protect this sector from impacts under imports. Do you have any concern about the impact of this measure on the supply-managed sector?

[Michèle Govier]

At this stage, knowing what we know, I would say no. I think the risks and the concerns that have been brought forward are something we need to monitor to see if there is the potential that there could be some risks, but as I've said, we are really trying to monitor things very closely and stand ready to make those assessments and react if need be.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Do you feel the government is ready and prepared to offset any damage or anything that happens as a result of this to the supply-managed sectors, especially the chicken and egg sector?