Agriculture Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2023

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Your answer is yes, Mr. Lampron. Yes, these people are doing what they can, but additional resources are needed, such as more veterinarians when shipments arrive at the border. I understand that there are problems in this area.

There's also the whole issue of infectious diseases, such as avian influenza, which we've been talking about a lot in the past few minutes, and foot-and-mouth disease, which affects other production sectors, such as pork and beef.

Are you reassured by the information we have from the agency on all the controls that are being done?

[Pierre Lampron]

As I said, it's important. I have the figures. If ever there was an infection in the hog sector, and even if it was a wild boar, we would have to stop all exports overnight, under our trade agreements. That's billions of dollars of market share in 77 countries that would be affected by a shutdown.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

As I understand it, we don't have enough resources to react more quickly the day this happens, even if nobody wants it to happen.

The point of what I'm saying about biosecurity is really to ensure that we have the right resources in a timely manner, should anything happen.

[Pierre Lampron]

Yes, it's important.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Do I still have some time left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Unfortunately, you only have 10 seconds left.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

I shouldn't have asked the question, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm confident that you're going to share that time with the committee.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

You're putting words in my mouth, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

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

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

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for appearing.

Maybe I will start with Dr. Joly from the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative.

You've reported in the past that we are likely to see increases in cases as climate change contributes more to the spread of diseases. You've mentioned that previously in reports, and then today you're talking about different migration patterns. It sounded like you were inferring it would be by air, but it could also be by land. Is that correct?

[Dr. Damien Joly]

Absolutely.

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

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is seeing and, I believe, looking into cases of EHD, or epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which is a viral disease that affects white-tailed deer. I know you have reported AHD in B.C. You've also mentioned that early detection is crucial for identifying these new and emerging diseases and threats, and the important role that hunters can play cannot be overstated. There are many hunters in my riding.

What role would hunters have in detecting EHD or AHD across the country? What education is being done, and how can we improve on that?

[Dr. Damien Joly]

Thank you for the question.

I want to reiterate how important hunters are. These are people who are on the land and who know what's normal. In any kind of disease situation, unless you know what's normal, you can't detect the abnormal, so that integration, that co-operation with hunters and indigenous people and whoever else is on the land, is critical to what we do.

We at the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative put a ton of effort into education for that very reason. For example, we're working with the Government of British Columbia right now to revise a very popular manual called “Diseases You Can Get From Wildlife”, which goes through in great detail the types of diseases and how to avoid getting those. We're doing a refresh on that document right now.

Our website, for example, is full of material intended for people exactly like hunters, who are on the ground and who can tell us when something is different, such as whether a lesion is something they've never seen before. They often have decades of experience butchering animals. When they say, “Hey, this is something weird,” and they call us, send us an email or use our online reporting app or even the mobile app that we're developing right now for reporting, that first notification is crucial for us to be able to see what's going on on the ground. At the end of the day, there are very few of us in our labs in Saskatoon, Guelph or Saint-Hyacinthe, so we need that co-operation with people who are on the land.

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

I appreciate your saying that.

You're working with provinces, with all different levels of government and also with the associations like the anglers and hunters. That's good.

You also mentioned that diseases don't care what side of the fence the animal's on. I imagine it would apply to diseases that they don't care what side of the border animals are on. With this maybe increased migration, are you co-operating with organizations similar to yours in the States to trade information to predict where things are going?

[Dr. Damien Joly]

Absolutely. The U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center is a lab based in Madison, Wisconsin, and that's the U.S. centre for wildlife disease research. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has their own wildlife research. We're talking with them all the time. For example, we co-host the World Organisation for Animal Health wildlife collaborating centre with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. The idea is that we're on the phone with them all day. In fact, while I was sitting here I had an email from Jonathan Sleeman, who's the former director of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. It's right in our name. We're a co-operative, and we want to collaborate with those people who share the same goal of healthy wildlife.

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

I have a minute left.

On invasive species, are you studying insects as well? I'm specifically asking about the spotted lanternfly, which is in the States, and we're concerned about its migrating up.

[Dr. Damien Joly]

We do work with the Canadian Council on Invasive Species, for example. We've worked on feral swine and the SF file, but when it comes to insects, that's a little bit outside our bailiwick.

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

I appreciate that.

With my last 30 seconds, Monsieur Lampron, what can sectors do, different organizations do, to help each other? Do they share information among commodities?

[Pierre Lampron]

Yes, data sharing is definitely necessary, but it would be important to invest in general research to determine the causes of diseases, how they break out, or the role of immigration. That would be a good thing.

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

I wish I had more time.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

That's all the time you have.

I'll now give the floor to Mr. Perron for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Dr. Joly, you talked about the importance of surveillance. In previous interventions, you said that there are very few of you and that you need the help of hunters and first nations, in particular. I understand that, but today, what everyone seems to be saying is that efforts are being made, but that more resources should be devoted to prevention.

Do you think you need more resources yourself? Do you think the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has enough resources?

[Dr. Damien Joly]

Thank you for the question.

I'm sorry, but I only speak English.

I would love to be able to answer in French—one day.

Of course, we all need resources. Avian influenza is a perfect example of that. All of our labs went way beyond their capacities—people working late, working weekends. We ran out of money, and one of our labs actually had to stop testing for avian influenza because we simply didn't have enough money. Particularly when it comes to surge capacity, we just don't have the resources.

This is why we're working towards implementing a plan called the pan-Canadian approach to wildlife health. It is essentially my mandate as a new CEO to fund this work. This work is about strengthening capacity across the country for us to respond to wildlife health. It's about reducing disparity across the country. We currently have big gaps across the north, for example, and even in areas in southern Canada, where we don't have good surveillance. We're trying to improve anticipation and trying to get ready to deal with problems five years from now—to get ready today for the problems of the future. Ultimately, this plan is about improving efficiency.

We absolutely do need more resources to really solidify our work.

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

Thank you very much.

In closing, Mr. Lampron, I would ask you for a very brief answer, because you will have only about 10 seconds.

On the subject of border inspection, to pick up a bit on the points raised by Mr. Lehoux, you say that spent hens and poorly identified dairy products are getting into the country because of a lack of resources. Are you afraid that diseases that could be detected if we had the necessary resources are entering the country?