Evidence of meeting #58 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bee.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kody Blois
I'm going to go to Mr. Drouin, and then afterwards I'm going to go to Mr. Savard-Tremblay.
Liberal
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
It is a bit difficult for me to get involved in scheduling issues for a committee I am not a permanent member of. However, I agree with Mr. Lehoux's proposal and I appreciate his wanting to discuss this here. I would be the first to do it, since there are a lot of plants of this type in my riding, including an Olymel plant, so I approve the motion.
I also agree with what Mr. MacGregor is proposing in terms of an amendment. I think it would be a good compromise. It also seems to me that holding another meeting would not radically upset the schedule.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
The only comment I'll make on processing capacity is that I'll remind this committee....
We're not against the motion. We'll support it if we write a letter.
I salute what Mr. MacGregor is saying. However, we're already done a study on processing capacity in Canada, so we may come up with the same recommendations at some point.
As a holistic view of the processing capacity in Canada, it's very concentrated, and this committee has heard witnesses time after time over the past few years and in the studies we did prior to the last election. For those of you who were on the committee.... There was Mr. MacGregor, and I think, Mr. Barlow, that you were there. Sometimes you were there and sometimes not, but you're a recurring member.
If we write a letter after this, and to get it as soon as possible,
I will be pleased to support Mr. Lehoux's motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kody Blois
Colleagues, I see Mr. MacGregor and I know we want to come back to Mr. Lehoux.
I'm going to go to Mr. MacGregor.
You will have the final thoughts, and then, as your chair, I'm going to tell us—hopefully with your blessing—where we're going.
It's over to you, Mr. MacGregor.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
That was going to be my point—that the letter can include and reinforce the findings of our earlier report on processing capacity.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kody Blois
Mr. Lehoux, I will turn it over to you.
It looks as though you've got approval for your motion to move forward. I would request that you keep it as is and trust the chair, in his discretion, to try to move this as quickly as possible, given our previous meetings.
I will turn it back to you to see whether you want to thank your colleagues for moving this forward. It's an important subject.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I very willingly support the proposed amendment, that is, that we write a letter. To add to what my colleague Mr. Drouin said just now, we did in fact already do a study on this subject in the past. I think the situation has changed quite rapidly, though. As well, markets have been closed at the international level. Ultimately, as my colleague Mr. Barlow said, that means a reduction in the number of animals slaughtered, by one million in Quebec and 700,000 to 800,000 a year in Ontario. These are fairly substantial numbers, and it is important that we be able to bring it up again if there are new developments.
I think the witnesses we have identified will be able to provide us with the necessary information before we write our letter to the minister. I am only suggesting it, because I forgot to mention it the other day. Ultimately, the question of animal health is important in all this. As you said, Mr. Drouin, the closing is scheduled for December. People are already starting to panic. The plant employs 1,000 people divided over two shifts. Some of them may decide to leave before the closing, and that would also certainly significantly affect the slaughter capacity, within a relatively short time. It is therefore essential that we be able to look into this. The witnesses named in the motion could help us find solutions. They could at least make suggestions for us.
If the motion is adopted, I will certainly place my trust in you to write the letter and deliver it to the minister by hand, Mr. Chair. I am pleased that I will be contributing to the efforts to enable us to reach a conclusion. I am very open to the idea of collaborating with you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kody Blois
Don't worry; as the chair, I'll make sure that letter gets to the minister.
I think we can all agree that the issue is serious and important and has wide-ranging impacts in many regions, and certainly, as you mentioned, in Ontario and Quebec.
Here's what we're going to do. We don't need to have a vote. This has been passed. I will use my discretion to work with the clerk within a reasonable timeline to get this in. I know there's a sense of urgency. We'll invite the folks you've listed. Assuming that they all come, that should fill the panels. If we need additional help, we'll turn it over to the parties and ask for additional help.
We'll try to set aside maybe 10 or 15 minutes.... We'll shoot for a meeting of two hours and 15 minutes, so that once we are done we can go in camera and provide some feedback. This will not be a formal report, but there will perhaps be some element of a discussion on which we might want to inform the analyst to then write the letter. We'll try to make that a reality.
Colleagues, what I thought was going to be a short night was only nine minutes short. We had great testimony on the bee. It was a very interesting topic tonight.
I'm sorry for the technical issues, but our translators have to come first. We'll try to get that resolved. I assume that we want to get CFIA and PMRA back. You can leave that with me and our capable clerk and analyst, and we'll make sure that happens in the days ahead.
We will see you all on Wednesday for a continuation of bee mortality, and we'll go from there.
The meeting is adjourned.