Agriculture Committee on Dec. 8th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

I'm going next to MP Connors for five minutes.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Thank you.

Welcome, Minister and other representatives of the department. It's great to see you here.

I want to start by noting the mention of your commitment to supply management, because in my province of Newfoundland and Labrador, supply management is a huge part of our agricultural industry.

As part of that, there are a lot of small farms, family-run farms. As a province, we've been working on food sustainability and working really hard on the importance of agriculture as an economic generator, as well as from a food perspective.

From a small farm and rural perspective, what programs and funding will continue to support small farms such as the ones in Newfoundland and Labrador?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Thank you, Mr. Connors.

I come from rural P.E.I. In fact, most programs consider Prince Edward Island as a whole rural province, so I fully understand how important it is to the small communities. They drive the communities, really.

I think a lot of it comes back to the SCAP program. Whether it be AgriMarketing, AgriStability or AgriInnovate, I think these are some of the things that smaller farmers can take advantage of—obviously on a smaller scale—and also some of the science that's being done. For example, I was at Université Laval last week, and they have a $10-million budget for science and are doing plant-based science, genomic science and bioscience. These are the types of things that are available to small-town farmers, to rural Canada, and they can take full advantage of them.

In working with the provinces, like the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and in developing these relationships from province to province, whether in Saskatchewan or Newfoundland, I think the federal government's part is to listen. If there are policies that need to be changed to ensure that smaller provinces like yours and mine can benefit from them, then certainly that's what we have to do.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Thank you for that response.

The research and everything that goes on is certainly helping Newfoundland and Labrador, because it's helping us to introduce new products to be grown there.

You mentioned climate change, and I want to ask a question about Newfoundland and a lot of the parts of Atlantic Canada that were hit this year by drought. There was drought in probably most of Canada. Can you tell us a bit more about the AgriRecovery programs or the programs supporting Canadian farmers through droughts and other climate impacts?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Our business risk management programs have come up several times in my travels, and they are something that will be front and centre. They came up at our national ministers meeting in Winnipeg in the summer, and they are something that I think government has to take a look at. If changes need to be made, obviously you need the partnership of all the provinces.

This morning I had an opportunity to sit down with Robert Irving, and we were talking a lot about drought and irrigation and how the federal government can help, so there's lots to do.

In terms of AgriStability in Newfoundland, I know they have droughts. There's a discussion going on now, with the newly elected government going back and forth with some of my officials, I believe. The deputy may be able to tell you more on that if you need more, but discussions are certainly going back and forth to see where they're going to land on the AgriStability file for farmers who are hurting because of the drought.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I think I'm running out of time.

I was going to give you the opportunity to talk about anything you wanted to talk about that was important for you.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Oh, thanks.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

That's a hard-hitting question.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

It's Christmas.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

You have about 15 seconds.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I never have enough time.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I must admit that I think I've been to every province in this country except Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Connors. You and I know a little spot called the Trip Inn that we have to visit when I'm there. I certainly look forward to visiting some of your producers and farmers in Newfoundland.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I look forward to it as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you.

Next we'll go to Mr. Lemire with the Bloc Québécois.

Mr. Lemire, you have two and a half minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you Mr. Chair.

My question is for Mr. Ianiro.

We've all read the response you sent us regarding the importation of poultry fraudulently declared as spent fowl coming from the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the CFIA, tells us that there are no problems with the traceability or food safety of this meat, even though the declaration that allows it to enter the market is itself fraudulent. You're also telling us that, for those reasons, it is not possible to issue a recall to pull it from the shelves when it is necessary to do so.

Why does the CFIA prefer a cure rather than prevention in terms of subjecting this meat to DNA testing at Trent University? What makes this approach so complicated?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I had some good meetings early last week with the Chicken Farmers of Canada, and we had a good discussion. CFIA is sitting right here to my right, so maybe I'll get them to follow up on that.

I will say that after the meeting on the first of last week, CFIA went to Trent University to seek out the DNA test to ensure that it's still appropriate and reserved to the pathogens they look for.

I think it's very serious, and we need to find a solution that's compatible but that will also ensure that everybody is on the same page on this. At this point in time, I can tell you from the discussions I had with different organizations that we're not all on the same page.

It's something that maybe you can follow up on, Mr. Ianiro.

[Robert Ianiro, Vice-President, Policy and Programs, Canadian Food Inspection Agency]

Thank you.

I think the minister covered everything.

We did meet with Trent University as recently as last week to discuss their views on this, and we're open to continuing discussions with industry and all those within the supply chain as it relates to this.

I would like to underscore that this is not a food safety issue. This is really a misdeclaration and tariff issue.

One key thing we are doing is working with our colleagues at CBSA. They have undertaken a significant number of investigations over the last few years and have imposed over $370 million in fines.

There should be no concern as it relates to traceability, as we have the appropriate certification from a health and safety perspective. Again, this is not a food safety issue; this is a tariff and misdeclaration issue. We're open to continue working with Trent and the industry to make sure we do all we can.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you.

I'll next go to Mr. Epp for five minutes.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Minister and officials, for being here today.

In your last appearance, Minister, you were unable to commit to the continuation of the seasonal agricultural worker program. Your deputy committed to getting back to us, but we have not yet heard about the status of that program.

Are you prepared to commit to the continuation of the SAW program today?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Well, since the deputy committed to that, I'm going to let him answer your question.

[Lawrence Hanson, Deputy Minister, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Obviously, this is not a program on which we lead. The program itself is led through ESDC. As you know, they are continuing to look at a specific stream for agriculture and fish processing workers, but I cannot commit to specific timelines or decisions from ESDC.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Are you prepared to support the program?