Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you, and again thank you for your service to Canadians.
My name is Jan VanderHout, and I am the vice-president of CHC, as well as a greenhouse vegetable grower from Hamilton, Ontario.
As Brian mentioned, our sector is very diverse. While other crops are being planted in the ground, and tree fruits are starting to bloom, our greenhouses are in production. The majority of greenhouse operations are in full swing across the country.
While we grapple with other challenges associated with this pandemic, we have unfortunately seen how devastating an outbreak of COVID-19 can be on an operation. I’m sure most of you are aware of the situation at Greenhill Produce in Kent Bridge, Ontario. Despite taking all the necessary precautions recommended by public health, there has been an outbreak of COVID-19 among its full-time and temporary workers. Greenhill is now trying to salvage the harvest with a sliver of its regular workforce. The losses it will incur from this are not effectively covered under any business risk management program, and could amount to as much as $25 million lost on this one farm alone.
Simply put, we need your support for our growers to continue to take on these risks. We need to know you have our back as growers continue to serve on the front lines as essential workers. Canadian fruit and vegetable producers need assurances now that they should plant with confidence, and, in the event of a labour or supply chain issue caused by COVID-19, that they are not risking their farms.
We want to avoid situations where Canadian growers are forced to conclude that the economic and other risks to continuing operations are just too great. Canadians will be relying on our domestic growers more than ever, and more than ever our growers need meaningful safety nets behind them. As this committee examines ways to respond to this pandemic, we urge you to make our food security a top priority.
The federal government needs to make it clear that any grower who needs to isolate workers due to an outbreak, or has to scale back, shut down or curtail operations temporarily, will get the full support of the federal government during this pandemic.
Canadian fruit and vegetable growers are part of Canada's ongoing food supply solution. Help us to help you feed Canadians.
Thank you.