Finance Committee on Oct. 15th, 2012

[Andrea Brocklebank]

I'll speak to the first part.

I think it's important to highlight that the investment in research and systems and technology has been integral to reducing food safety incidences. Between the years 2001 and 2009, our most current data, we know that E. coli incidences reported by people in Canada were reduced to less than half of what they were previously. We still have work to do and we don't like to see what happened, but, on the other hand, we are seeing that risk reduction, and we continue.

We also need to focus on the fact that food safety research has to transcend all areas. It's not just one thing. Moving forward, we see that investment in continued research, because we find that new things arise on an ongoing basis.

I'll let Martin speak to the second part, in terms of prevention.

[Martin Unrau]

I have a hard time pointing to what we could do to directly prevent a situation like this. Having said that, I think the important part is that inspectors are vigilant and that producers are vigilant when they produce cattle to be harvested at plants such as this, which they are. It's very important to note that in the future, we're going to have to look at what happened at this plant and re-evaluate how we do things to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

That's our goal, our strategy, and I believe that's what is going to happen, but it can't be done tomorrow. It takes time, and research is an important part of that, as Andrea mentioned.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Unrau, we have addressed the recommendations put forward in the Weatherill report. I said 157 inspectors; I think there were 700 food inspectors we hired who were new on the job. Would you say this was helpful to the overall food safety in the country, at this point?

[Martin Unrau]

When you have well-trained inspectors, it's obviously helpful to food safety. That's a pretty broad statement, but I think an accurate one.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you.

I'll go to Ms. Pohlmann.

We were talking about small business, and small businesses certainly are very important to our country. Of course, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is an integral part of what happens with small businesses.

I said in the beginning that we have 770,000 net new jobs and we have the soundest banking system in the world, for five years in a row, actually. Some really good things are happening here. When you look at small business, things have been put forward that have been very important to small business people themselves.

First of all, would you say that the hiring credit for small business has been useful in growing small businesses and helping them out?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Peggy Nash]

Ms. Pohlmann, excuse me, but you're just about out of time. You have about 10 seconds.

[Corinne Pohlmann]

Yes, the EI hiring credit has been extremely important. That's why we are advocating for it to be extended for another year, and for as long as EI rates go up, because payroll taxes tend to have the biggest impact on the growth of a small business.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Peggy Nash]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Smith.

Mr. Hoback, you have five minutes.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Thank you, Chair.

Again, thank you, witnesses, for being here this afternoon.

I'm going to pick up on what Joy was asking you, Mr. Unrau.

You didn't get a chance to finish your presentation, but I was just going through it, and you talked a little about demographic change. I come from Saskatchewan, and one of the big problems we're having right now is finding good labour. There's a shortage of skilled labour.

What is the labour problem doing to the cattle sector, and what do you suggest we could do to help you in that situation?

[Martin Unrau]

In western Canada labour is in short supply. The shortage is broad and applies across many different sectors, such as agriculture, as we heard just a minute ago. For us I think it's important to be able to obtain some of the temporary labour on a consistent basis, but also to be able to maybe move some of those people into a permanent position and into citizenship for Canada.

In our position where, personally speaking, we have a cow-calf output in the feedlot, we have a couple of temporary people. If there is some way to keep those guys in Canada, we would do that, either through some type of sponsorship or some way to help them to stay with their families and contribute in the way of paying tax to our country.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Is it fair to say that labour is a limiting factor in the growth of operations in the cattle sector?

[Martin Unrau]

It absolutely is, especially in the feeding industry. It's a labour-intensive industry, and all of western Canada is short of labour in that industry.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

One thing this government has done in the last few years is the $20 million legacy fund. It's spread over four years, so you have roughly $5 million a year for market development.

I know I was with you guys down in South America about a year ago with the Prime Minister, talking about the trade agreements we have there. How have you found the utilization of those funds and how is that working for you?

[Andrea Brocklebank]

Those funds are really important to us. Obviously market access is first to get into markets, but then you need to have a presence in those markets. Canada is a huge exporter in terms of our industry, with 45% of the production being exported.

We're actually a relatively small player relative to the U.S. beef industry and some of those other parties, so we have to be able to key in on the opportunities and also be able to compete with relatively large competitors in those markets and provide presence up front to do that. Therefore, market development is part of it, because it's not just about supplying products, but about creating relationships with people. We find typically that long-term commitments are a lot more profitable for the industry than just selling beef by loads to different markets, so those funds are really critical.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

I only have five minutes, and there are quite a few things I want to ask you.

I know that Mr. Ritz, for the last two years—I think every weekend or any break week—has been abroad with you guys and with different industry players, opening up markets. I understand we have a little hiccup and that's just the market reacting to what's going on today , but if you look at the price of beef in the macro sense in the market, it's actually very positive for the cattle producers. Would you not agree, and would you not agree that it's because the export markets are opening up for products such as tongues and other products that we don't eat in Canada? Would you agree with that?

[Andrea Brocklebank]

Yes, absolutely. Basically we can sell all the middle meats we want into North America, but we look at the entire carcass value, because that's what gets prices back to fed cattle producers and feeder cattle producers. Those other products getting to the other markets that demand them are integral and very important to us for long-term sustainability.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Then the TPP and CETA are going to be very important, again, in providing different markets for different products.

[Andrea Brocklebank]

Yes.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

You've got a $6 million budget for the beef science cluster right now. What are you doing with that $6 million in that science cluster?

[Andrea Brocklebank]

We're investing in several areas of research, such as beef quality and food safety, and enhancing that in line with the Canadian beef advantage program, which is part of our marketing.

We're also doing policy-related work on things like animal transport and animal care, antimicrobial resistance, and several other areas to provide science-based research to the policies being developed to ensure that we're in alignment with regulations but also not impeded by them, given our trade nature.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

They're basically there for you to manage as you see fit in adjusting to market conditions or situations, for lack of a better word.

[Andrea Brocklebank]

The current program was fairly prescriptive in that once we developed the plan, it more or less had to stay. The application for the next science cluster is being positioned and will be presented to the government at the end of this year, so we can hopefully have an April 1, 2013, start date to have continuity. In it we are proposing some flexibility, because things arise in the research world, as anywhere else, and having some flexibility is very important. A lot of the focus is on long-term research in areas such as feed grains and forages, where we see an increased expense and competition for those things.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Peggy Nash]

Thank you very much, Mr. Hoback. Mr. Hoback, I'm sorry, you're out of time.

Mr. Jean, you're up next. You have five minutes, please.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you, Chair, for that. I hope Mr. Hoback's intrusion isn't taken out of my time.

[Voices]

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