Agriculture Committee on March 21st, 2022

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

So I conclude that if the committee made specific recommendations to provide financial compensation for actions taken on the ground, you would be open to that. That is quite positive; thank you very much.

Earlier, you addressed the subject of inspection costs in slaughterhouses under federal jurisdiction, which are seen as a hindrance. I am referring to the questions that Mr. Lehoux asked earlier about the difficulties that slaughterhouses have to deal with, about the glaring labour shortage, and about operating costs, since everything is interrelated.

I understand that the department might be open to the idea of alleviating the financial problems caused by these inspections.

Is that accurate?

[Chris Forbes]

Thank you for your question.

I was talking about inspections for grains that are exported. On the subject of costs for slaughterhouses, there are certainly federal programs to support their investments in automating facilities and other efforts to reduce labour costs.

In addition, transfers to the provinces are possible in the Department of Employment and Social Development to help our provincial colleagues offer training, for example. There is also the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which provides funds to the provinces to help them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. Perron and Mr. Forbes.

Mr. MacGregor, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Forbes, I'm going to continue with my examination of the minister's mandate letter.

There is a mandate here to support food producers who choose alternative pest management approaches. I am going to assume that those are approaches that do not need pest management regulatory agency approval, because we have heard from a lot of producers who are concerned with the backlog at PMRA.

I'm just wondering if you can provide our committee with a bit more information on what those alternative pest management approaches are. What does this support look like? Does this support include some of the fantastic research that's going on in Canada, in places like the University of British Columbia's experimental farm? Please give us any information you can on that particular mandate.

[Chris Forbes]

There will be a mix of priorities as to where our research goes. It could be into non-synthetic pest management tools, organic pest management tools. It could be, in some cases, in agronomic practices, but there is also an aspect of making sure that the regulatory work necessary, whether that's through our pest management centre, which deals with minor-use pesticides or through the PMRA.... More likely it will be through our pest management centre. It has the prioritization and its list of activities includes looking at some of these non-synthetic pesticides to make sure they can get approval for use.

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

To clarify, Mr. Forbes, where it says, “support food producers who choose alternatives,” to your mind, does that support mean better funding for research and development, so that they have more options to choose from?

[Chris Forbes]

Yes, I would say that is like making sure there are more products available, either through research or by making sure that the regulatory approvals are in place.

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

Okay. Thank you for that clarification.

I believe that's it, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

You have 15 seconds, but now I have you up to 40 that at some point I will give back to you.

At the behest of some of my colleagues who have asked to get on the record for just one quick question, I'm going to offer about 90 seconds each to the Conservatives and the Liberals, just for any parting thoughts on the third round, and then I'm going to quickly exercise a little discretion, and then we'll go to the supplementary estimates.

Mr. Barlow, you have 90 seconds.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have two quick questions I will try to get in.

Ms. Lapointe, I just want to clarify your last statement. You said that the suspension for fresh potatoes into the United States was implemented by the Americans. Everything we have been told was that it was implemented or put in by the Canadians. Can you clarify that? Was the suspension done by the U.S. or Canada?

[Sylvie Lapointe]

We were informed by U.S. officials that they would not be accepting imports of potatoes from P.E.I., and our regulations don't allow us to issue export certificates if we don't meet the country's importing requirements.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Can you also table that correspondence with the committee?

I have a really quick question for Mr. Forbes. The minister stated that the ministerial order is the responsible thing to do and that they don't want to go toward dispute mechanisms with the United States. I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Can we not initiate that dispute mechanism under CUSMA while at the same time still having those technical discussions with our partners in the United States?

[Chris Forbes]

I think the minister was saying we have all options on the table, certainly, and she stated quite clearly that technical discussions—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Can we do both at the same time?

[Chris Forbes]

It becomes more difficult to have technical discussions with a country when you are challenging them in a dispute panel, because the outcome—

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Difficult doesn't have to mean “no”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We're going to have to leave it there, Mr. Barlow.

Thank you, Mr. Forbes.

Mr. Turnbull, you have 90 seconds.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Forbes, I was very happy to see in Minister Bibeau's and Minister Gould's mandate letters a reference to a national school food program, something for which I've advocated for many years. I know that means building out a cost-shared program with the federal government investment.

Could you briefly sketch out just how that work will roll out over the next year or the coming years?

[Chris Forbes]

The simple answer would be that, as the mandate letter lays out, we will have to work with the provinces and engage with them and also with stakeholders—those groups that are out there supporting food security across the country, with whom we have partnered over the course of the pandemic—to determine the kinds of options we have for delivery, who might be the best delivery agents, and what the model would be. We have a lot of expertise out there, and we want to make sure we develop something that is successful and sustainable.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. Turnbull.

Colleagues, I'm just going to exercise my discretion because I have a quick question for Mr. Forbes.

Mr. Forbes, the minister, in her remarks, talked about the targeting of Ukrainian agriculture infrastructure in the war that's happening right now. We know that Russia and Ukraine together represent about 26% of the global wheat market. There's going to be fallout on potash and other critical supplies that are important to the agriculture industry.

Notwithstanding some of the challenges the Canadian industry has faced over the last year—we've talked about that vis-à-vis COVID and otherwise—is the department looking at different ways the government can work with industry to strengthen Canadian agriculture? Can it perhaps respond in a global way and be there as an important backstop, given everything that's happening in the world right now?

[Chris Forbes]

Yes, I would say definitely that we're thinking about this and—if I could broaden it beyond just my agriculture hat—doing so also with my colleagues who work on the development side, through organizations like the World Food Programme. There are both, with Canada supplying from an agriculture standpoint by making sure we have a successful year ahead of us in terms of food production. We've also talked a lot about supply chains.

We're thinking a lot about all of those issues. At the same time, I think our colleagues on the development and aid side will be thinking, “Are there other programs that can help in Ukraine and in other countries that are affected?” As we've seen, there has been a significant run-up in prices, and obviously the costs of food for many people around the world are going to be a significant challenge in the coming year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Just as a quick follow-up, is there any engagement right now in the department with stakeholders about ways in which the government can work to address and perhaps bolster the existing production in the country to support in that fashion? Are those conversations taking place or being planned, or is it perhaps a bit premature at this point?

[Chris Forbes]

Yes, we're talking to the sector about a range of issues. Again, I would focus a lot on supply chains, because that's in some ways the biggest concern our producers face. The market signals will be there, for sure, given where prices are. We're talking to the sector. There's no formal process right now, if that's what you're asking.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, colleagues, for indulging me in a couple of quick questions.

On behalf of the committee, to all of our witnesses and to all those who are working with CFIA and with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, we thank you for your work, and we thank you for your time here today. We permit you to leave the virtual room.

Colleagues, we're going to continue, because we have to move forward with the supplementary estimates.

Unless anyone objects, I will seek the unanimous consent of the committee to group the three different votes together under the supplementary estimates, so that we can deal with them all at one time. Can I have unanimous consent to move forward in that fashion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.