Finance Committee on June 1st, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We had stopped the clock.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I've been a member of Parliament for six years. I've never been interrupted like that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Mr. Lemire, we reset your time.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I would like you to show me that. I have two minutes and 20 seconds on my other clock, and I wanted to be able to at least get the witnesses' answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I have three minutes and two seconds on mine. We reset your speaking time.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Does that also include the entire—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Yes, we reset your time.

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I find the exercise a bit…. I'm not sure if you did the same thing, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Mr. Lemire, thank you.

We'll continue now with Mr. Barlow for five minutes.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. We can just leave everybody here.

My question is for the PMRA. Ms. Laforce, the approval times of PMRA have doubled. They have become worse under the transformation agenda. The AAFC puts that number at about a $50-billion cost to Canadian agriculture. Canada is 32nd out of 38 OECD countries when it comes to agricultural regulatory burden. We are number 21 when it comes to active ingredient registration. Many companies do not want to come to Canada as a result of these numbers. It takes too long to access this market.

Is there anything within Bill C-30 that sets targets for PMRA, in terms of approving its decision-making process to improve those numbers, to come up from 32nd out of 38 in the OECD and to come up from number 21 in terms of active ingredient registrations in Canada? Are there any specific targets in Bill C-30 that hold PMRA accountable for the decisions it is making?

[Shannon Laforce]

Thank you for the question.

Bill C-30 includes, as stated, changing the mandate to have a provision that requires the pesticides regulatory directorate to consider economic considerations of food security.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Okay, thank you, but again...all these things about “consider”. Is there a definitive target within Bill C-30 that says that you must meet this decision timeline or approval timeline or that we want to be, for example, number 32 out of 38? Are there specific targets set for the PMRA?

[Jordan Hancey, Director, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Department of Health]

Hi, this is Jordan Hancey from the policy and regulatory affairs division.

Those targets are part of the Service Fees Act. They already exist for the PMRA. They're binding, and if we miss targets, then we have to refund a portion of the application fee. They do exist. They're not in Bill C-30, but they exist through the Service Fees Act.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Well, Mr. Hancey, the PMRA is making a lot of refunds then.

Last, to the CFIA and Mr. Holmes, the CFIA has not inspected the animal health protocols in the Mercosur countries since 2018. Has the CFIA done any impact analysis in terms of a potential animal disease outbreak in Canada as a result of the Liberal government's signing the Mercosur trade agreement, especially when it comes to Canadian livestock?

[Jay Holmes]

Thank you.

I note that the discussion today is focused on Bill C-30. This sort of treads outside of that.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Yes, but you're here, so I thought I'd ask you the question.

[Jay Holmes]

Our trade colleagues would be able to respond to that, and we can get back to you with an answer on that in due course.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thank you.

I'll pass my remaining time to Mr. Mazier.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

This question is for Health Canada.

The government provided 4.5 million tax dollars to an organization called MySafe Society. The purpose of this money was to fund vending machines that dispense opioid drugs across Canada. Are there any opioid vending machines still operating in Canada today?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I have a point of order.

Today's conversation is about Bill C-30. I don't believe this question is relevant. Maybe you could ask Mr. Mazier if he can pose a relevant question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Turnbull.

I would ask Mr. Mazier to focus on the questions with regard to Bill C-30. Thank you.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

We have Health Canada right in front of us, and we've been trying to find this out for a long time. I think they're free to answer it. Could they table that information?

[Shannon Laforce]

Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, it's outside the scope of Bill C-30, and I am not in a position to answer the question at this time.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Okay. I'll continue with my questions, then.

Health Canada has confirmed that at least one of these government-funded opioid machines was used to divert drugs to the black market. Did the government shut down these opioid vending machines as soon as they were made aware of the diversion?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I have a point of order on relevance, which is in the Standing Orders. I know that members opposite are used to being in committee, and we normally pose relevant questions on matters related to the actual bill that is under consideration. Bill C-30 doesn't deal with that measure, and I'm wondering, Madam Chair, whether you can bump our colleague back into his lane. It's called a lane assist.