Evidence of meeting #9 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 products.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Paul Connors Liberal Avalon, NL
I have another quick question.
The agricultural industry has young farmer programs, new entrant programs and supply management. Should that help with the new entrants coming into farming in the coming years?
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
I think there are a lot of opportunities for young people in farming. We just have to ensure that we put the resources in place to allow them to do it. I mean, we need.... Export is a big part of our economy; it's a big part of farming. We're feeding Canadians, but we're also feeding the world, so I think we should be looking at anything we can do and any policies we can make to make it easier for the younger generations to get into farming.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Emma Harrison Liberal Peterborough, ON
That's perfect. Thank you.
Thank you for having me back.
Minister, you completed a trade mission to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. I'd like you to speak, if you wouldn't mind, a bit more about that.
Also, what other international markets might we be exploring for Canada?
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
Well, I'll go to your second question first.
A lot of my guidance, basically, is coming from industry in terms of where we should be going and what direction we should be moving in as far as international trade and export are concerned. I think it comes back to our capacity as a country to ensure that we have the products that countries want. In this role, you could be flying all over the world every other week, but I need to ensure, whether it's about the Canadian Cattle Association or any other producer—lentils, peas, canola or pulses—that I'm going in a direction they want to go in and that there's logistical relevance, as well, to ensure that they get a fair price for their product.
In the Indo-Pacific, we have an office in Manila. It's very beneficial to us. At some point in time, I'd like to see more offices in more international places. We export 22 billion dollars' worth of agriculture and agri-food products to the Indo-Pacific region, and it's a constantly growing market. The Indo-Pacific is our second-largest regional export market and trading partner. I think it's safe to say that my trip to Indonesia was very beneficial. We signed a bilateral agreement with Indonesia. We're moving very quickly to move more beef to Indonesia, as well as canola, so I think there are a lot of opportunities. With the ASEAN countries, I think we're only going to see that grow as their populations grow and as their middle classes grow.
Liberal
Emma Harrison Liberal Peterborough, ON
Thank you.
Many of the farmers I've spoken with were really optimistic about the growth opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region. Could you speak a little more specifically about any other international markets that are being explored or prioritized for Canadian beef?
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
Right now, the priority is the existing markets that we have. It's great to talk about diversification, but I recognize the fact that China is a big market for our canola. At the present time, 96% of our agricultural food product is moving across the U.S. border tariff-free. We want to keep those markets. We want to do everything we can. In the same breath, every farmer and every organization we talk to specifically say that diversification is extremely important, but they want to maintain our markets in those countries as much as possible.
This is twofold: work hard to get new prospects in trade and export, but also, in the same breath, work hard to keep the markets that we have. We've seen a lot of diversification in this country in agriculture. The technology and innovation are second to none, in any sector. If we look at car manufacturing, it's about 2.2%—
Liberal
Liberal
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Thank you very much.
Minister, you talked about beef and pork exports a short moment ago. Canada is poised to ratify a new agreement with the U.K. so that it can accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership; however, our farmers are concerned that they don't have access to this market even though British farmers will sell us their cheese and other products.
Have you had any discussions about this? Have you secured any guarantees?
Bloc
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
Look, we're in a geopolitical situation, and the message I'm getting from my stakeholders is to push on the door that's open. The Mexico door was open. The Indonesia door was open. At some point in time, yes, that will certainly be an issue, but right now—
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
What about the U.K. door, Minister? Is it going to open? Signing trade agreements is all well and good, but the agreements must also benefit our farmers.
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
Yes, certainly. A time will come when we'll have to negotiate with the U.K. with relevance to beef and what they've done to Canada. That's something we'll do, but at the present time and for the past four months, my job was basically to try to open the markets that exist and then diversify into new markets. That's what I'm trying to do.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
You know my position on gene-edited products, Minister, because you sat on this committee when we talked about that. This technology is very interesting, but I think these products must be labelled and the government must regulate them.
Will you commit to work on that?
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
That is certainly something for review. I appreciate your comments on it, and I know how strongly you feel.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
You can count on me if you want to work on that, but it must actually be done. It's easy to say that here, but we need to work on that.
Someone asked you a question about investments in supply-managed products, among others. I know that some investment funds to support the processing of supply-managed products have expired.
Will there be other investments or is this the end of these programs?
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Do I have any time left?
Okay, that's good.
The chair is being generous with me, Minister, so you’re lucky.
Can you tell me about the efficiency of the PMRA, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency? I’m sure you’ve been following our committee’s work on that subject. Mr. Ianiro indicated that work on specified risk materials, SRMs, is under way, but we’ve been getting that answer for the past two years. We’ve also received the same answer for two years when it comes to the use of drones to spray pesticides. It seems to me that the use of drones to spray pesticides that are already dispensed by plane should be authorized more quickly. That would make it possible to spray small amounts.
What are your thoughts on that, Minister?
Liberal
Heath MacDonald Liberal Malpeque, PE
On innovation technology, sometimes regulations are not moving quickly enough.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Michael Coteau
Okay.
Thank you very much, Minister.
To all of our guests here today, thank you for joining us. We appreciate your time.
We'll suspend for five minutes and come back to start our second half.