Finance Committee on Oct. 8th, 2024

[James Janeiro]

It is certainly there. It's on page 7, to be specific, the third bullet from the bottom. We've yet to receive a concrete answer as to why it hasn't happened yet. In my business, you have to remain optimistic. The best time to do this was four years ago or three years ago. The second-best time to do it is right now.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Try being a federal New Democrat.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thanks.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Hope is eternal.

Okay. We're going to go to MP Chambers for five minutes.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.

What a wonderful group of presenters we have here today. Thank you.

Just in case we get there, I'll provide verbal notice of a motion that, should the committee decide to have any extra resources tonight, we'll devote those “to the study of Bill C-365 to a maximum meeting [time of] one hour and report the bill to the House in its original or amended form, as the committee desires.” That's just verbal notice. I'm not moving that motion, Mr. Chair. We do have the proponent of the bill in the room, prepared to present on his bill this evening.

Mr. Harpe, I'd like to spend a couple of minutes with you.

First, thank you for helping feed Canadians and the world. It's very much appreciated. We saw that, during COVID, food supply was obviously a very big concern. With recent government announcements, the capital gains tax and other regulations, do you think farming is becoming more or less attractive to the next generation?

[Andre Harpe]

You know, farming in some ways is a way of life, and it's getting tougher to farm. It's getting tougher for young Canadians to get involved in the farm. I think they still want to and I think they're still attracted to it, but it's getting tougher.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you.

I also understand that if you were to compare the emissions profile of Canadian grain or wheat that ends up being exported or consumed to the emissions profile of other countries', most Canadian agricultural products—particularly grain—have lower emissions profiles than those in other countries. Do I have that right?

[Andre Harpe]

I would believe so. Kyle might have the numbers, but the one thing I would say is that it goes back to the fact that we have been working on the land for years. We've been working, trying to be more efficient and more sustainable before that became a buzzword. We've been working for years on this.

Kyle...?

[Kyle Larkin, Executive Director, Grain Growers of Canada]

I would just add that Canadian grain and Canadian grain farmers are some of the most sustainable in the world. We have a really good story to tell globally, and I'll quantify it. From 2001 to 2021, the Canadian agricultural sector cut its carbon intensity by 50% while growing food production to meet growing food demand both in Canada and globally.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

It sounds to me like it would be a good thing for the world to have more Canadian grain.

[Andre Harpe]

Yes, it would.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

It would be better for the environment too. Is that right?

[Andre Harpe]

Yes.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

I've never met a farmer who's not environmentally conscious. I've never met a farmer who wastes fertilizer or who doesn't think about the sustainability of their operation for the next generation.

I think our government or any future government should look at ways to grow the agriculture sector so that we can export more food and keep more of the food supply chain here for us. What do you think about that?

[Andre Harpe]

I totally agree with you. We're doing very well now. I think we can do better. I think we have an amazing story to tell.

It's interesting. I was talking a few minutes ago about how our farm has been in our family for 103 years. I have three daughters who want to look at taking over that farm. The only way to make that farm viable, the only way to pass that farm on, is to treat the soil and to treat the farm the way it should be treated.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Harpe. I appreciate your testimony.

Mr. Lee, you can't get out of here without answering a couple of questions from me. However, if I know how this works, I'll probably have time to ask you only one and you'll talk until the time is up.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

The Parliamentary Budget Officer today said that—surprise, surprise—inflation and interest rates have hurt lower-income Canadians the most. That's something that even the Governor of the Bank of Canada said in May of 2021. He gave a speech that seemed to fall on deaf ears with the current government.

Do you have any comments on the role of inflation and how that has hurt low-income households?

[Dr. Ian Lee]

I do appreciate the question. It has been studied, believe me, going back to Keynes. There's massive research on this. I'm sure everyone in the room can guess at the answer. I'm sorry about the jargon, but the people least affected are in the top two quintiles, the two highest. That's 40%. It's very easy to immunize themselves from that. The people who are in the bottom two quintiles have very limited income. They're hit much harder.

In fact, when you look at the StatsCan data that shows the percentage of income spent on food, shelter, etc., and they break it out by quintiles, it's no surprise that the people in the bottom quintile pay a lot more as a percentage of their income on food and shelter than wealthier people do. Ergo, people at the bottom suffer a lot more.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm only a couple of seconds over.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Next is Ms. Dzerowicz.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thanks so much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank all the witnesses today for their excellent presentations. I have questions for each one, but I won't have the time to do so.

I'll start off very quickly with you, Ms. Paleczny. You know, in my downtown west riding of Davenport, transit is very popular. One thing that troubles me is the fact that the transit in Toronto is largely funded by the fare box. Can you just confirm whether or not we're the only country in the world that actually funds its public transit by the fare box?

That's question one. As a second part, is there a model of funding at all the various levels of government of another country that you think we should be following?

[Kelly Paleczny]

Thank you for the question.

With respect to your first question, I can say that Canadian transit systems rely on their fare box revenue to the greatest extent of any transit systems in the world. I don't know what those exact percentages are, but I do know that Canadian systems do rely most heavily on fare boxes.

In terms of models around the country, as I spoke about in one of our—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I'm sorry. It's not models around the country. It's around the world.