Evidence of meeting #34 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was need.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
President, Canadian Cattle Association
Absolutely.
The analogy is connected directly to animal health products as well. Quite simply, if we don't keep pace with the global innovation that happens, then we're falling behind, and our productivity and therefore our competitiveness will be impacted
From an animal health product standpoint, I would say that we know that, as large and reliant on exports as we are, we're a relatively small player. We've heard from pharmaceutical companies in particular that say the cost of moving through the regulatory process is too large relative to the size of our market. We simply need a mechanism to gain access to those products.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
In one word, would it be fair to say that something like this would meaningfully impact the economic viability of operations today?
President, Canadian Cattle Association
Absolutely. It would make a very meaningful difference in all sectors of the cattle industry.
President and Chief Executive Director, Canadian Pork Council
Yes, veterinary products, for sure, would lead to an enormous cost savings for pork producers across the country. Animal health products obviously would, but veterinary products.... Frankly, we're at a huge disadvantage because other markets have access to veterinary products that we simply can't access. That saves them from an animal health perspective because they have healthier animals, but it also lets them deal with issues in advance before they become problems.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
With regard to biosecurity issues and stuff like that, we have better control.
President, Canadian Cattle Association
If I may, there's one other aspect to it, and that is really addressing the antimicrobial resistance issue. The more products that we have access to, the more resilient we are and the better practices that we have in being able to address those risks directly.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
It's more tools in the tool box.
I would like to give you the opportunity to comment on how private insurance might play a role in business risk management.
Mr. Petelle.
President and Chief Executive Officer, CropLife Canada
That's not really our area of expertise. I will let the growers....
President, Canadian Cattle Association
I think it follows the principle that, if you let the industry design the program that addresses their risk, then the private sector can really be a big part of that.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
I just want to make one closing comment. I don't know if there's time to respond.
We've been resistant to moving our products into the EU and the U.K. because of regulatory issues in the U.K. Apparently, we don't meet their standards. Maybe that same model applies to Mercosur, that we're going to let Mercosur come in and not, maybe, address the same standards of care and quality of product. That's a problem.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Michael Coteau
We'll stop there. Thank you very much.
Next we'll go to MP Chatel for five minutes.
Liberal
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
Our Prime Minister said in Davos that a country that is unable to feed its population has few options. I think Canadians really feel the same way. They understand very well that agriculture and agri-food is a strategic sector and, as mentioned earlier, a matter of national security.
In defence, we have clear objectives and clear targets. We have a way of measuring success in terms of investments, but also in terms of buying Canadian and using Canadian expertise to become increasingly self-reliant.
My question is for all of you, but I'll start with Mr. Fulton.
How would you describe our ambition for the broader agriculture and agri-food sector? What would your objectives, targets or performance indicators be in this sector? I know that's a big question. If you have any data and indicators to send us in writing, please feel free to do so.
President, Canadian Cattle Association
Broadly, I see the Canadian cattle industry as a bright spot for growth in agriculture in Canada. Specifically, I believe we have advantages as compared to the rest of the global beef exporters, such as phenomenal genetics and the technology that allows us to lever and find insights within the genetics that are there. That's one aspect. However, more broadly, we can move this back to growth in the mother cow herd, because it is profitability, those market signals, that drive that.
We're more than happy to provide targets, based on productivity and innovation, that take us 20 years out. However, we're on a timeline in the cattle cycle, which is a lot longer than an annual cycle for some of the other commodity groups.
Liberal
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Petelle, I'll ask you the same question.
President and Chief Executive Officer, CropLife Canada
Thank you for the question.
We would love to see more of an ambitious agricultural agenda. We've heard a lot about becoming an energy superpower or already being there, but maybe expanding that. We talk a lot about becoming the supplier of critical minerals. I think agriculture is a little overlooked. It's that quiet engine that just keeps churning out, year after year. We would love to see some ambition.
We saw the Dominic Barton report from 2016, which talked a lot about setting targets. Canada can be the number two global exporter of crops and livestock products...more processing in Canada. I think there was some ambition that we can get back to, and that's certainly what we would like to see.
Then there's the structure that needs to enable that. That's why we keep talking about this. You have to have the regulatory environment that will attract the innovation, which will then drive some of that growth. There are lots of pieces to the puzzle, but I think that setting some clear, ambitious agricultural targets would be excellent for Canada.
President and Chief Executive Director, Canadian Pork Council
We think we can increase our domestic consumption of pork, replacing some of our imports with more domestic consumption. We think there's a need to do some more marketing of Canadian pork. More important than that, we think we can double exports over the next eight years.
From our perspective, we think we have a huge opportunity for pork in Canada. We think we produce the best pork in the world. We think we can be part of national security arrangements with some of our allies. Korea, Japan and others are becoming more reliant on Canadian pork. We think we can build those trade agreements into defence agreements as well. We think we can have a real power play where, in the kinds of markets where we need those mid-sized markets and where we need stability and predictability, we can come to the table and make our agricultural production part of their security arrangements and vice versa.
Liberal
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC
I also want to know this: Why do we need risk management programs? What should they be achieving? What is their main focus and main goal? Can you define it quickly, Mr. Fulton?
President, Canadian Cattle Association
It drives investment. If you manage uncertainty, it drives investment and that's economic growth.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Michael Coteau
Thank you very much.
Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.
We will suspend for five minutes to change our panel.
Thank you so much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Michael Coteau
I'd like to call the meeting back to order.
I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of our new witnesses.
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Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, September 18, 2025, the committee is resuming its study on business risk management programs in Canada's agriculture sector.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses.
Online we have Lysa Porth from Agi3 Limited.
With us in person are Karen Ross, from Farmers for Climate Solutions; and Richard Carey, from the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture.
Welcome to our committee.
We'll start with Mr. Carey for five minutes.