Agriculture Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I call this meeting to order.

Colleagues, welcome to meeting number 77 of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

I'll start with a few reminders.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. The proceedings will be made available on the House of Commons website. Just so you are aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking, rather than the entire committee.

Screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, April 17, 2023, the committee will resume consideration of animal biosecurity preparedness measures.

I would now like to welcome the first panel of witnesses.

From the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, we have, in the room, Pierre Lampron, second vice-president. Welcome, Mr. Lampron. You're no stranger to this committee. It's great to have you here. Joining us by video conference, we also have Brodie Berrigan, director, government relations and farm policy.

We also welcome Mr. Damien Joly, chief executive officer of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative.

From Lockwood Farms, we have Cammy Lockwood, co-owner and operator.

I understand we're having a bit of technical difficulty, but I know our technical teams are working with you to try to get your headsets going for translation.

Colleagues, we'll navigate that as we go, and hopefully we can make it work.

We're going to allow five minutes for opening statements. We are a bit delayed, so I'll try to keep it compressed. I'm going to start with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

Mr. Lampron, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Pierre Lampron, Second Vice-President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture]

Good afternoon.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. As has been said, my name is Pierre Lampron and I'm the second vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. We met not too long ago to discuss Bill C‑275.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is Canada’s largest general farm organization. We represent over 190,000 farmers and farm families across Canada that are the heart of a Canadian agri-food system generating $134.9 billion of Canada's gross domestic product.

As a dairy farmer myself, I fully appreciate the critical importance of animal emergency preparedness and ensuring that strong biosecurity measures are in place to protect our animals, our livelihood as farmers, as well as our economy. Generally speaking, from our perspective the most effective strategy to deal with biosecurity threats is prevention. Here in Canada, across all livestock sectors, farmers have put strict biosecurity protocols in place to ensure the health and safety of their animals.

I am most familiar with the National Standard on Biosecurity for Canadian Dairy Farms which was developed by the Dairy Farmers of Canada working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The national standard for dairy farms focuses on four biosecurity control areas that result in a significant reduction in disease and human food safety risks and include: restricting visitors' access to animals; ensuring the farm is well maintained, clean and sanitary; ensuring that there is a herd health plan in place that includes responding proactively to disease risk; and keeping new animals separate from existing animals until they represent no disease risk.

On top of that, the dairy sector has integrated biosecurity into its proAction certification program which offers proof to customers that the sector is ensuring quality and safety, animal health and welfare as well as environmental stewardship. This is just one example, but every livestock commodity has their own biosecurity standards.

Another important facet of this issue is facilitating communication and coordination nationally and across other jurisdictions. Animal diseases don’t recognize borders and we’re all better served by fostering clear communication and sharing best practices.

In Canada, we have seen good progress in establishing collaborative protocols that clearly define critical tasks and delineate responsibilities to ensure a coordinated and timely response. While this work has been under way in one fashion or another for some time, we have seen recent progress made through the Animal Health Emergency Management Project, overseen by Animal Health Canada, which supports the collaborative development of resources to minimize the incidence of disease.

Animal Health Canada is a national organization bringing together industry, federal, provincial and territorial governments to provide collaborative guidance on animal health and welfare systems in Canada. The success of this model is that it enables a comprehensive approach jointly developed by industry and government, supporting increased awareness, response capacity, and confidence through the development of protocols supported by clear guidance and training.

The last point I want to touch on is international trade. The integrated nature of our markets has long made clear the importance of animal health and animal biosecurity as key priorities. An outbreak of an infectious disease in any sector has disastrous effects, including but not limited to closing our borders to trade, lost trade opportunities, and increases in production costs. That’s one of the reasons why traceability systems are absolutely critical to facilitate both efficiency and stable growth. These systems need to be developed through extensive industry leadership and engagement and be supported with education and outreach.

Thank you for your attention. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lampron. You have respected your speaking time.

Mr. Joly, it's now your turn and you have the floor for five minutes.

[Dr. Damien Joly, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative]

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you very much for this invitation to speak today. We really appreciate this opportunity, and we really hope we're going to be of some use today.

My name is Dr. Damien Joly. I'm the CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. Before I start, I just want to acknowledge that I'm grateful to be a guest on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation. I, myself, live, work and play on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island.

The focus of my presentation today is on disease threats that are shared between domestic animals and wildlife. I hope to make the case that our domestic animals share many diseases with wildlife and that surveillance for diseases in wildlife is a critical component of animal biosecurity.

For example, there are 31 federally listed reportable diseases in Canada. These diseases include foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, avian influenza and 28 other diseases. Of these 31 reportable diseases, 22 can potentially affect wildlife in Canada, so that's 70% of federally reportable diseases that can pass between wildlife and domestic animals. Clearly, wildlife are an important part of the biosecurity equation.

To further make this point, consider the current epizootic of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Canada. From the first cases in November and December of 2021 in Newfoundland until the end of September of 2023, 7.7 million domestic birds in Canada have been impacted in 320 facilities across the country, in all provinces but for P.E.I. This is a virus that was introduced to Canada from wild birds.

There's no way of really knowing how many wild birds or wild mammals have died of this virus in Canada, but we know it numbers in the many thousands of animals. We do know that the virus has been isolated from over 90 species of wild birds in Canada and 14 wild mammals, including red foxes, skunks, several marine mammals and black bears.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza illustrates my point. This virus is quite capable of jumping back and forth between wildlife and domestic animals, and avian influenza isn't the only pathogen we're worried about. It's this fact that makes surveillance for diseases in wildlife so important to protecting the health of Canadians and our animals.

This is what we do at the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative. We are a collaboration of the five vet schools in Canada, as well as the B.C. Animal Health Centre run by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food. With the support of our federal, provincial and territorial partners, such as Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Parks Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, for over 30 years we've done our best to monitor the health of wildlife populations across Canada to identify, assess and mitigate disease risks.

For example, in fiscal year 2022-23, we conducted disease investigations on over 8,000 wild animals from across Canada, testing for a battery of diseases including avian influenza, bovine tuberculosis and Newcastle disease.

For much of Canada, if a wild animal is found dead and reported, it usually ends up at one of our labs. In collaboration with our federal, provincial and territorial partners, we form an essential component of Canada's wildlife health surveillance system.

Our strength results from this collaborative and decentralized approach. By working together, we can confront issues that are bigger than any one of us could attack alone. By working locally and regionally, we can provide local and regional solutions to local and regional problems but have national coordination.

When you give a presentation, you always want the audience to come away with something—something they can remember. If there's one thing I hope you remember walking out of this talk, it's that it's really important to conduct surveillance of wildlife populations if we want to maintain biosecurity in Canada. We're talking about the same diseases here, and these diseases really don't care which side of the fence an animal is on.

Thank you very much for this opportunity, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Mr. Joly. We appreciate your being here, and we appreciate your testimony.

We're going to turn it over to Ms. Lockwood.

I know that you rebooted your computer and you've worked on the technical side, so it's over to you for up to five minutes.

[Cammy Lockwood, Co-Owner and Operator, Lockwood Farms]

Thank you for having me today.

I hope the technical issues are okay. I believe it's with the translation, so I will do my best to speak slowly and clearly.

I just want to acknowledge that I'm on the territory of the Halkomelem-speaking peoples here on Vancouver Island.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I will just have to stop you. I apologize, Ms. Lockwood. I'm being told by one of our members that there isn't translation.

Let me just pause for a second here. I'll stop the clock.

Ms. Lockwood, do you have at least your opening remarks, perhaps in a digital format, or were you just going off-the-cuff today for us? We might be able to help you a little bit in that regard.

[Cammy Lockwood]

I was just planning on cuffing it. I do have some notes, but they're minimal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Maybe we'll try one more time. I don't know what the issue might be. I suspect it's not with you. It could just be a technical problem, and we could always work to try to have you come back or find another way to get your evidence.

I'm going to turn it over to you. We'll just try it one more time and see if we can make this work.

Thank you.

[Cammy Lockwood]

My name is Cammy Lockwood and I'm a farmer on Vancouver Island.

My husband and I farm about five acres of land, and we have 6,000 laying hens. We're part of Canada's supply-managed system. We came to that through the new producer program in 2015.

I'm hoping I can provide you with some perspective of what biosecurity looks like for us on the ground.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Lockwood, the interpreters are asking if you could move your mike up slightly closer to your mouth. We'll try that. It was working up until then.

I'm sorry about this interruption.

[Cammy Lockwood]

No worries.

Biosecurity on our farm, especially as we have a number of different animals, we are very often changing our boots and using boot dips. We have secured access zones and locks, as well as very robust rodent-control and pest-control programs. We are very aware of the biosecurity risks, having lived through the AI crisis of 2023 and 2022. We learned a lot. We take it very seriously, so much so that it affects our children's pet choices as well. We don't allow budgies or parrots in the house. It's a major concern for us.

Certainly, the impacts of avian influenza last year were quite extensive. For ourselves, we found it was a lot of extra work to go through all the regular biosecurity procedures, as well as being under higher media scrutiny as the event was unfolding. Of course, it died down from the media side as it went on.

We also had a significant amount of difficulty constantly educating people around us. We come from a very agricultural area with a lot of backyard flocks. My husband and I were often having conversations with people we knew—or people we didn't even know—about their responsibilities as chicken owners.

In the B.C. industry, of course, the egg supply dipped down so much that a lot of the grading staff had to be laid off, and a lot of truck drivers. It definitely had some major impacts on jobs in the larger sector. There's definitely strain on all aspects of the supply chain. It's difficult to replace a flock. Usually, we plan flocks about three years out in order to know how many birds we're going to need and to allow time for them to be properly grown.

I also need to mention that there are deep impacts on farmer mental health, especially in the Lower Mainland area. It's such a huge food-producing area. The Lower Mainland farmers went through COVID, then the heat domes, then the floods of 2022 and then straight into the AI outbreak. It's been very difficult for them to continue to rebuild.

Moving forward, I always like to look at what can be done to change.

I would like for you to consider hearing from the emergency operations committee in B.C. They did a phenomenal job of liaising between the poultry board producers and the CFIA.

Also, improve relationships between the CFIA and farmers. There was, I think, a lot of tension between farmers and government in trying to manage the disease and the outbreaks. Definitely have some training for CFIA staff on how to work with farmers, and also for farmers on how to work with the CFIA. A lot of very practical things came up. Farmers and CFIA staff took very different perspectives, which caused a lot of tension in the industry.

Moving forward, don't villainize farmers who have endured an outbreak. Ensure a continuity for farmers. If they have a case manager, don't reassign the case manager the next day. Be quick with funding and make the funding more comprehensive for farmers who have endured losses.

Also, consider alternatives for depopulating a flock. When farmers have to wait for the CFIA to come and take care of depopulation.... We saw flocks that were still there for five to seven days after they had been diagnosed. That's a very difficult position for farmers, as they have to, firstly, keep those birds alive. The feed to do so is very expensive. It also increases spread, if that's the case. Consider different alternatives.

In terms of AI, moving forward, animal improvements are very important. We're essentially monocropping with hens. Having different strains of breeds and different varieties would be helpful. Encourage some breeders in that direction and allow for vaccines.

It's my understanding that Canada has just decided to follow in the steps of the United States in terms of vaccine regulations. I believe that some of the vaccine regulations in America are more based on different trade regulations, so if Canada's able to come up with our own decisions there to allow for more robust vaccines, that would also be very helpful for farmers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Lockwood, I apologize. We're getting close to time on the five minutes. I know we had to delay you a bit. If you can wrap up quickly, we'll get to questions.

[Cammy Lockwood]

I'd also like to [Technical difficulty—Editor] the community relationship improvements and having stronger education for backyard flocks. That's something that we saw a lot during this event; it was spread through backyard flocks. We would encourage wild bird mortality reporting, based on what some of your other witnesses have said, and also discourage animal activists of breaking and entering into properties. That's a huge biosecurity threat for all of us.

I look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much, Ms. Lockwood.

We were just studying that legislation, but I'm going to get to questions.

We're going to turn it over to Mr. Barlow for up to six minutes.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

It was an interesting last comment there from Ms. Lockwood. I appreciated that.

Ms. Lockwood, did your flock test positive for AI during the outbreak in 2023 or 2022?

[Cammy Lockwood]

No, we did not.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

That is very good. I'm glad to hear that. I just wanted to make sure from what your comments were.

On that, you were mentioning other opportunities or alternatives for depopulation. You had mentioned the mental health impact this had on producers who were having to euthanize entire flocks. We were hearing similar stories where, if a case of AI was found on a farm, CFIA was supposed to be there within 48 hours. In many cases it was days, if not weeks, putting a lot of stress and mental health issues on the producer with those birds.

What would be some alternatives to depopulating? Have you spoken with your other producers in terms of maybe giving the farmer the authority to depopulate in some way, rather than having to wait for CFIA?

[Cammy Lockwood]

Yes, there are different ways to manage it. There are many issues around sourcing the CO2 material to be able to depopulate a full barn, but certainly, the electric shock truck is mobile and is capable of doing it. It does require people to be in the barns handling all the hens during that time, but those would also be other favourable methods of depopulation.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

You made a good point there. We were also hearing that CFIA did not have sufficient stores of CO2 on hand.

Maybe I'll ask you, as well as Mr. Lampron and Mr. Berrigan from CFA. Has that been resolved? It seems to me we're talking about biosecurity preparedness and ensuring that CFIA has the resources on hand to address these types of outbreaks when they occur. That would be priority number one. Is there any information in terms of CFIA improving that situation?

I'll go to Mr. Lampron, who may have a larger view of this.

[Pierre Lampron]

I would ask Mr. Berrigan if he has more information. I don't have enough expertise in this field.

[Brodie Berrigan, Director, Government Relations and Farm Policy, Canadian Federation of Agriculture]

That's a good question, Mr. Barlow. I don't have a direct line of sight in terms of the resource reallocation within CFIA for this specific issue. My understanding is that the delays were substantial in a few instances but not across the board. In some cases, it can take quite a while, but my understanding is that's more the exception than the rule.

Having said that, it's an important question around the overall health and well-being of animals. I'm sure Cammy would say the same thing. Nobody wants to see their livestock suffering, so we need to ensure that, whether it's through CFIA or if producers are involved in that process, the right information and tools are in their hands so that they can do it effectively, efficiently and humanely.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Lockwood, I have a bit of time left here, so I'm going to go to my last question.

You mentioned the importance of preventing unwanted guests and protesters from coming onto your farm. We just passed Bill C-275 in this committee, which will put substantial fines on people who would come onto private property and protest on your farm or in your barn.

Do you think it's an important tool to have those deterrents to protect biosecurity and the mental health of you as a producer?

[Cammy Lockwood]

Absolutely. I know it's been frustrating for the pork farm in the Lower Mainland. A busload of trespassers came in 2019 and went directly into their barn.

It's always a concern for us, as producers.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Berrigan, I'll turn again to you and the CFA.

How important is a tool such as Bill C-275 in helping to ensure the biosecurity and the protection of our food supply on Canadian farms? How important is it to see this go through third reading and royal assent? We're close, but we're not there yet.

How important a tool is this?