Agriculture Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2025

[Kristina Farrell]

One of the things that FCC referenced in the report, which I appreciated, is that we need infrastructure investments to expand our interprovincial supply chains. That's something I hear about from companies quite often—that it's easier to export to the U.S. than it is to go across Canada, even before we begin to look at other markets.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you so much.

Mr. Perron, you have two and a half minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Farrell, you always get questions at the end. I'll give you some time.

You mentioned earlier that you could be given access to existing programs and that you had suggestions to make.

Could you give us an example of an existing program that you can't access and that could be changed?

[Kristina Farrell]

The strategic innovation fund is one of the big ones that now has been rebranded to the strategic response fund initiative. That's one where the details still remain to be seen, but we're hoping that agri-food and food and beverage manufacturing will have access to that program in particular.

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

Thank you very much. If you have any other suggestions for us, I encourage you to send them to the committee. We'll take them into careful consideration.

Mr. Roy, you mentioned earlier that it was impossible to replace China. You may not have said it like that, but that was the meaning behind your statement. I understand that China takes cuts of meat that no one else wants. Even if the Chinese market comes back, the market will remain unstable.

What more can be done to help your sector develop its share in the Asia-Pacific market? I know you're working hard right now. For example, you're in a good position in Japan.

What about other regions?

[René Roy]

Market diversification is indeed still important.

For example, what's being done in Southeast Asia is excellent. Suppliers are managing to sell certain cuts there that the Chinese market would otherwise take and that would be harder to sell in North American markets.

However, the Chinese market is extremely important to our sector due to its size, and it will continue to be. Market diversification will enable us to reduce risks, especially when we're exposed to friction, but we still need access to those markets to properly supply our markets.

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

Thank you very much.

Could diversification also enable you to be more resilient to a future disruption, whenever that may be?

[René Roy]

You make a very good point. The Japanese market, which has become our largest export market, is an example of our sector's resilience. That didn't happen overnight: We've been investing and present in this market for a long time. In fact, a delegation of producers from various provinces is currently in Japan to explain the importance of our production.

Processors and producers work together to improve market resilience, especially in value-added markets such as Japan.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Thank you very much.

We have the Conservatives for five minutes and the Liberals for five minutes, and then I said we'd do another two, two and two. I think there was a little confusion, so in fairness we'll do five and five, and then we'll end with two. Is that okay? It's just to balance it out because I made a promise. Are we good? Okay.

Go ahead, Mr. Barlow.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you, Chair. I'm going to share my time with Mr. Steinley.

I have a quick question for Mr. Roy from the Canadian Pork Council.

Was there any direct relief, or anything offered, to pork farmers in Canada as a result of the Chinese tariffs on Canadian pork? Did the government offer any direct relief to Canadian pork farmers?

[René Roy]

No direct relief has been presented.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

I have the same question for Tyler. You've been blocked out of China since 2021. Was there any direct relief offered to Canadian cattle producers, from the Liberal government, as a result of being blocked from the Chinese market?

[Tyler Fulton]

No, there was none.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

I cede the rest of my time to Mr. Steinley.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you very much.

It's good to be back in agriculture. As a Saskatchewan MP, canola is top of mind for a lot of people that I represent. It does a lot for the Canadian economy and Saskatchewan's economy.

We heard that you guys had a meeting with the Prime Minister and the agriculture minister. Did they commit to go to China to have conversations about canola with their colleagues in the Chinese government?

[Rick White]

They certainly recognized the need to go over there, but I don't know of their scheduling behind the scenes. They did not disclose that much detail. There was an acknowledgement that a lot needs to happen with the relationship with China.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

We all recognize that there's a need for them to go over there. During the meeting that you guys were in, did the canola sector and organizations ask the Prime Minister or the agriculture minister to get on a plane and go to China?

[Rick White]

Probably not quite in so many words, but it certainly was indicated that the Prime Minister needs to fix the political problem at the highest levels in China in order to pave the way for others to come in after the fact. We don't tell the Prime Minister what to do.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Technically, he does work for all of us.

As an industry, this is a problem that needs head-on, face-to-face discussions between the leaders of these two countries. Is that not something that would appear to be apparent to the canola growers?

[Rick White]

Yes, it's apparent that we do need the Prime Minister there. I think he got the message. Maybe not in so many words, but he definitely got the message. We'll have to see if something happens in the next number of months here, I guess. Again, I don't know. That's beyond my scope in terms of understanding what the strategy would be from a political perspective.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Premier Moe did make that trip along with Kody Blois, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Have you had a chance to talk with Premier Moe and Mr. Blois about how those meetings went in China?

[Rick White]

Not directly, but Premier Moe was there. He did update the group in that meeting, because he was at that meeting regarding some of the positive conversations that he'd had. It looked like he had hope that the issue wanted to be resolved from China's perspective as well. Parliamentary Secretary Blois also indicated the same as Premier Moe.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Do you believe that Parliamentary Secretary Blois would have been there if it weren't for Premier Moe organizing the trip to China?

[Rick White]

I don't know, and I wouldn't want to speculate.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

That's fair. Thank you very much.

I appreciate everything we've been going through as a country. Canola has never been this popular in our country, and I don't think it's for the right reasons. I would ask you guys to continue to talk to all of your counterparts in the provincial and federal governments. Minister Harrison in Saskatchewan has been doing a good job. I really do think we need to have pressure put on our current Prime Minister and the agriculture minister to get to China, because this needs to be settled. The faster they get on a plane, the sooner it can be settled.