Agriculture Committee on March 21st, 2024

[Dr. Jonas Watson]

That would be my comment. It would probably not be profitable. The conditions that some of these $250,000 to $500,000 horses travel in are obviously dramatically different from the conditions in which feedlot horses travel.

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

Thank you, Mr. Watson.

Mr. Wilson and Mr. Shore, I asked you this question earlier. Do you think that anything can be done, in the meantime, to improve transportation conditions?

[Kevin Wilson]

Currently, we believe that as an industry, we can do a better job of educating fellow constituents and the industry on how we do it. There is no difference in the standard for flying a $500,000 horse or a $10,000 horse. A horse never knows what you paid for it, despite what a lot of people claim.

Can we do something better? We believe we are providing the best way to transport these horses that have been raised, in the setting they've been raised in.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Thank you, Mr. Perron.

Thank you, Mr. Wilson.

Mr. MacGregor has informed me that he is not going to take his final slot.

I would like to thank the witnesses, Dr. Watson, Mr. Serrien, Mr. Shore and Mr. Wilson, for being here today. I appreciate it.

We'll be back in two weeks' time.

Monsieur Perron, do you have one quick thing to say? I know people have to get to question period. Be very quick.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving me a few minutes.

I spoke to colleagues before today's meeting. I think that you'll find unanimous consent for us to pass a motion to finish our study of a possible code of conduct for the grocery sector. I'll read you the motion, which is probably the best way to proceed.

Given the lack of any response from Loblaws and Walmart since we last communicated, and given that the negotiated adoption of the code of conduct seems seriously compromised, it is agreed that the committee will summon the members of the interim board of directors of the code of conduct, and the members of the steering committee for the negotiations on the code of conduct, to testify before the committee on the status of the situation, with a view to providing accurate information on the situation and better guiding the committee's potential recommendations to the government.

Mr. Chair, this motion arises from the fact that the time to act is now. We all know that the adoption of this code is compromised, and that legislating on the issue would take time. This would be a final effort to obtain real information. I don't think that the committee has all the information that may be helpful.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

The way this works is we need unanimous consent if we want to debate it.

I know, Mr. Barlow, that you want to at least make a comment.

I want to be mindful of time, and I think we can all agree that this is important. We can have a subcommittee meeting in the two-week interim if we have to.

Go ahead quickly, Mr. Barlow.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I think you'll have support from us on Mr. Perron's proposal.

I also want to move a motion very quickly, colleagues.

I move:

Given that:

a) Seven provincial premiers and 70% of Canadians oppose the government’s 23% carbon tax hike on April Fools’ Day;

b) The premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have issued public letters calling on the government to provide a carbon tax carve-out for farmers and pass Bill C-234 in its original form;

c) The carbon tax currently costs greenhouse operators in Canada $22 million a year and will pay between $82 million and $100 million by 2030 when the carbon tax quadruples;

d) 44% of fresh fruit and vegetables growers are already selling at a loss and 77% can’t offset production cost increase;

e) The Parliamentary Budget Officer has stated the carbon tax will cost farmers nearly $1 billion by 2030;

f) The 2023 Food Price Report estimates that the carbon tax will cost a typical 5,000-acre farm $150,000 by 2030; and

g) The “Food Professor” recommends pausing the carbon tax for the entire food supply chain,

The committee call on the government to restore affordability and spike the carbon tax hike on April 1.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

I'm seeing from Mr. Perron that there were issues with translation.

We are at our time.

Be very quick, Mr. Perron. Obviously, I want to be fair, but—

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

I want to thank Mr. Barlow for supporting the motion. The interpreters didn't translate the motion because it was read out quickly and it wasn't provided in advance. We can hear and study it when we return. That said, in our limited time, I would like each political party to confirm its unanimous agreement with the motion.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

We're at our time now. I've opened the door as the chair, and this isn't committee business.

Mr. Barlow has said they will support it. We still have to schedule it.

Here's what I'll do, because people have to get off to question period. Short of anyone wanting to jump in right now, there might be some different elements. We can deal with this, if we like, by calling the subcommittee.

We could always do something virtually over the break and get our schedule in order. You know we already have a number of scheduling items that we discussed at the last meeting in terms of how we want to move.

Short of having Mr. MacGregor or anyone else jump in and move this, what I would suggest, Monsieur Perron—this is important—is that you let us deal with this in a format over the next two weeks, so that we can be in a position to decide when we come back in April. I don't think we're necessarily going to get this decided today. I'm not seeing that around the table.

This includes Mr. Barlow. I know you've moved a motion as well. That can be something we discuss when we come back in April, or if you want to call meetings, because this is our last scheduled day before we break, that's something that, procedurally, would be required to be a 106(4) meeting. If you have that in hand, we can discuss that, but I don't think that's necessarily the case right now.

I'll see Monsieur Perron, but then I want to move, because we're vastly over time and we have to watch the resources that we have here.

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

Mr. Chair, with all due respect, I consulted everyone before today's meeting. I already know that everyone agrees with the motion. Explaining that we won't be passing it today takes longer than giving all colleagues the floor to voice their agreement. The message that we'll be sending out today is crucial. For this reason, I would like it if both sides could simply say yes or no.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

What we'll do is.... There actually has to be unanimous consent. I have members who have had to leave. There are other commitments.

Yves, I'm very happy to work with this. We're very accessible throughout the break, so let's talk about this, because I'm not seeing consent, and, Mr. Barlow, I'm not seeing an ability to move forward. If you do want to move procedurally as you're entitled to, we can do that.

We're vastly over the time. We're 15 minutes over.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

I realize that, Mr. Chair. I would just call my motion to a vote. The date is April 1, when the tax goes up. We're not going to be back until after that. I would ask the committee to vote on my motion right now, before we leave. I know it will be quick.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. We're over the time, and there will be a vote tonight.

I mean, you guys are presenting motions left and right, so I would say that both motions are technically out of order, because we're over the time.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

This one's right up the middle, not left or right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Mr. Barlow, I try to be flexible. I tried to be flexible with Mr. Perron. I certainly let you read it in. Mr. Drouin is right. Let's not abuse the process here. We're happy to be able to discuss this over the break, and we have plenty of opportunity.

I'll adjourn the meeting to let people get to question period.

Thank you.