Agriculture Committee on Dec. 7th, 2022

[Chris Forbes]

Yes, I can definitely share with you. It would come from the national inventory report, but we can break it down by sources for sure.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Perfect.

Also, does the department have a list of the agricultural stakeholders that were consulted prior to ECCC, Environment and Climate Change Canada, announcing the fertilizer reduction targets?

[Chris Forbes]

I don't know that we keep lists like that, so the answer would probably be no.

Mr. Steinley, on these issues our engagement is ongoing, in the sense that we're talking to all of these stakeholder groups on a regular basis about these and other issues.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Forbes.

I would be remiss if I didn't ask my last question.

Could I have more of a detailed breakdown of the $24 million that's going to water infrastructure in Saskatchewan? I'm assuming a large chunk would be to the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project, which is of huge importance to my home province. We're looking forward to moving ahead with that.

[Chris Forbes]

I'm going to ask my colleague Ms. Guérard to answer that question.

[Marie-Claude Guérard, Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Management Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

The $24 million will be used by the department in our own infrastructure. That total transfer of $24 million was done to AAFC.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

That's good news for Saskatchewan.

We'll now turn to Ms. Taylor Roy.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here and answering more questions.

As we've already been discussing, we know that our farmers are already contributing to fight climate change.

Given the investment in new programs, clean tech and on-farm, etc., we do more, and as our colleagues have mentioned, with the full price of pollution being incorporated by 2030, there's even greater incentive to expedite some of those changes, given it's now part of the cost-benefit equation.

However, farmers are also on the front line in the impacts of climate change and, as we've discussed, some of the droughts and the floods and things that have been happening.

I saw in the supplementary estimates that there was $100 million in statutory authorities for the AgriRecovery program, which I believe deals with these disasters. Are you anticipating that in 2022-2023 that number is going to grow?

Marie-Claude, I think you do the finance. Do you expect that's going to be a larger number, as we've had to put supplementary estimates in? Are we budgeting for more? How do you see that number being mitigated perhaps by some of the action that's being taken by our farmers to decrease emissions?

[Chris Forbes]

I might take that question.

This $100 million is specifically for the AgriRecovery program in B.C. for the response to the B.C. floods. We had a little bit of money in 2021-22, and this is the rest of that program.

In terms of what the go-forward question would be, I think the last few years would show us—obviously, since this year we've also had hurricane Fiona hit eastern Canada—that the frequency and the regional scope of some of these events seem to be growing, so yes, we think the AgriRecovery program could be under pressure in the future. I don't have precise numbers for you, but I would expect between that and our AgriInsurance program, AgriStability, the whole BRM suite, as the minister said, these challenges will, in cases, hit producers quite hard.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Colleagues, I know Mr. MacGregor has indicated to me that he's finished and exhausted his questions, and I believe the Tories have as well.

Mr. Perron, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Forbes, I don't know if you're aware of the phenomenon of imported municipal sewage sludge. In news reports this week, we learned that trucks were arriving from the United States with municipal sewage sludge, also known as “biosolids”, which is subject to a ban on spreading in certain American states. They're coming to spread this on our land and it must not be good for the land, given that our producers are getting money for it.

Were you aware of this situation? Can you tell us about it? What are the next steps?

[Chris Forbes]

I am aware of the situation, but Mr. Morel will answer the question.

[Philippe Morel]

Of course, we know about it. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is involved in the importation of these biosolids when they are intended to be used as fertilizers, as seems to be the case according to some of the news reports that have come out this week.

We are working with Environment and Climate Change Canada on the Chemicals Management Plan to ensure that this situation is properly managed. At this time, based on the studies and science available to us, there is no indication that there is a high enough presence of perfluoroalkyl substances in this sludge to impact animal or human health.

We continue to ensure that sampling is done at the source, so that products are accepted when they arrive in Canada. The province of Quebec does not have any regulations prohibiting the use or presence of these products in its territory. For our part, we ensure that they are not prohibited by Canadian regulations, and indeed they are not.

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

All right, but this raises a major concern: the rates are reputed to be five times higher than what is allowed in some states in the U.S., hence the U.S. ban. If we're spraying things that are banned elsewhere, that raises a major issue. I think you should look at this seriously.

Are you doing any work on the standards for specified risk material in cattle slaughter? Are you considering adjusting these standards?

Smaller slaughter projects could gain profitability if these standards were amended or withdrawn without questioning safety requirements. We have had negligible risk status for some time now.

[Philippe Morel]

I thank the member for his question.

We are currently working with the industry to see what the consequences would be if the World Organization for Animal Health were to issue negligible risk status to Canada. We are also doing a risk analysis, but there are different contexts in Canada and the United States to consider, which the study should tell us.

If there is another case in Canada, there is a huge chance that our status will change, and for much longer. As part of our analysis of the potential risks, we will try to work with the beef industry to minimize the risk of long-term impact to them. So this is not a decision we can make quickly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Perron, I gave you an extra minute. So I would like to receive a Christmas card before Christmas.

Thank you very much, Mr. Morel.

I made a small mistake and there is enough time for Mr. Lehoux to ask another question.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to ask Mr. Forbes a very brief question related to immigration.

Processing plants in the agri-food sector are facing such a severe labour shortage that they are considering eliminating some shifts because they do not have enough employees. These plants process food, but with the aim of exporting it to combat global food insecurity.

Are you having talks with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship? Here, we have asked the minister twice to come and meet with us.

At the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, could accommodations be made to ease the process and allow foreign workers to enter the country quickly?

The companies have done the necessary work. We are just waiting for the paperwork.

[Chris Forbes]

Thank you for your question.

We are working closely with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Department of Employment and Social Development on these issues, to expedite workers' access to the labour market and processors' access to that labour. This is a priority issue for the department. We are working on a labour strategy for this sector. We are discussing all of this with these people.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Forbes. You are lucky to be able to talk to them. On our side, we don't see them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Lehoux.

Thank you, Mr. Forbes. As the deputy minister of agriculture and agri-food, thank you for your work and leadership.

Mr. Morel, thank you for your work with CFIA.

Madame Guérard, thank you so much for your work with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Colleagues, that ends our session here today. Enjoy your time back in your constituencies.

We'll see you on Monday, when we're going to be continuing our study on grocery food prices. I don't know if we have an official title, but it's something along that line.

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

“Greedflation”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Maybe not that, Mr. MacGregor.

We'll see you back on Monday. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned.