Agriculture Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2025

[Robert Ianiro]

I can assure you that it's a priority the minister has and that we're working as quickly as we can to advance those regulations.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

CFIA has missed the deadline for SRM negligible risk status.

Are you going to hold your department to account for this? When?

[Robert Ianiro]

Mr. Chair, I'm not sure what deadline the member is referring to. I'm not aware of any deadline that the department has missed. As it relates to specified risk material, we still have an active negligible risk status that is acknowledged by the World Organisation for Animal Health.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Do you know how much this is costing our producers?

[Robert Ianiro]

It's approximately $25 million a year.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

When do you plan to have this status updated?

[Robert Ianiro]

We're working actively, including with industry, on the policy work that needs to be done to do the regulations. There are no fewer than five regulations that need to be updated to make this change. We are working through that, and we're also working with our trading partners.

As I've mentioned before at this committee, we do not want to make any changes that could jeopardize any of our market access. We have been in touch with the U.S. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone we can speak to on the other side right now, given the labour situation in the U.S.

It's important for us to do that work, and we're doing that in parallel with the policy work to advance the regulations.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

I'll just shift gears here a little bit.

Strychnine was banned, and farmers in Saskatchewan have reported severe crop losses due to this. Is there a federal plan to compensate producers for their losses, or is Ottawa also going to ignore their decision here?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

We've had several discussions with the Saskatchewan minister in regard to this, and RJ Sigurdson, the Alberta minister, raised this several times. The process is in place. We are waiting for.... There is a clause in there that there is an exemption that can be applied. I haven't seen any requests in my office. I can't speak for PMRA right now, obviously. I don't know if they've had any requests.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Will you support producers or provinces if they apply for the exemption?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Yes.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

The alternatives to strychnine are far more expensive and far less effective. It's very important for our producers that this matter be taken seriously, and quickly.

Another thing I'd like to ask you about, Minister, is the EV mandates. There's a 100% zero-emissions mandate on heavy trucks and semi-trucks by 2040. Has your department done any analysis on this to see the effect it will have on agriculture and agriculture producers?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Within the first five months that I've been here, no, not that I'm aware of, but I will turn to my deputy, as he has been here longer than that.

[Lawrence Hanson]

Thanks.

I think any analysis of this will have been done by ECCC in the context of the regulatory impact assessment statement for the actual EV mandate. We can go back and see what analysis was done by ECCC in that context.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Do you know if any farm producer groups have been consulted on this?

[Lawrence Hanson]

Again, I think we'd have to get those numbers as part of the RIAS.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Minister, you support a government that's imposing a 100% EV mandate on farmers. So far, we don't know anything about the cost-benefit analysis of this or what it's going to cost farmers directly. Do you think you could come back and table those numbers with us?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

We'll check with EDC to see where it is at. I'm pretty much open to anything, but I would like more information on it before I make a decision on it.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

This is very worrying for our farmers. We have almost no infrastructure that's built up for this, and the cost of electric vehicles is exorbitant compared to the traditional vehicles they're using now.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I fully understand your comment and your issue. It's 2040, so time will.... The longer I'm here, the more I'll learn about it, understand it better and maybe have a better answer for you.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

One thing.... Two witnesses who appeared before our committee had cases of TB in their herds, and they're working with the CFIA to get through this. The process has been extremely frustrating and cumbersome for them. Can you commit that the CFIA will streamline the process so that producers have some certainty when it comes to these cases?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Well, one of my first decisions as a minister was to increase the compensation to $16,500 from—

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

We'll have to stop there. I apologize. I have to go to the next person.

Mr. Connors.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Minister, this new government has reduced the capital gains inclusion rate to 50% and has increased the capital gains exemption to $1.25 million. Will that help the intergenerational transfer of farms?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Well, I think it's a good decision based on a reversal of what it was before. To be quite honest, in the five months I've been here, I haven't heard a lot relevant to that—maybe from the opposition, but not from the farmers I've talked to. I think there are a lot of other things going on right now that they're more worried about. It's something that we'll continuously evaluate as we move forward, to see where it is.