Evidence of meeting #9 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:35 a.m.
Manager, Procurement, Metro Inc.
I fully agree with you.
At the moment, a product that is caught here, but processed elsewhere, will be labelled as a product from elsewhere. Adding “caught in Canada” to a label is added value in the eyes of consumers. It's definitely a plus.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Garon.
We'll now go to Ms. Barron for six minutes or less, please.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses here today.
I have lots of questions, so I'm going to get right into it.
My first question goes to Madame Leclerc. Am I pronouncing your name correctly?
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you. I don't want to pronounce your name wrong the whole time of my questions. I've done that before.
Madame Leclerc, I wanted to ask a specific question building off of the cost, which was previously discussed. One of the items that came up in previous committee meetings was the cost to the consumers and how that was a barrier in being able to offer this clear traceability. I'm wondering if you saw impacts on the consumer, what the impacts of those costs you're talking about were, and how they impacted the consumer directly, if at all.
11:40 a.m.
Manager, Procurement, Metro Inc.
Right now, in my work, I don't pay much attention to prices. My role is focused on assessing the sustainability of products and our traceability system. So I couldn't really say much about the impact of our traceability system on prices. To be sure, some certifications might have an impact on the final price, but unfortunately, I couldn't really say anything about traceability today.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Okay. Thank you.
Perhaps there might be somebody who could send us a written response on this, because for me it is an important aspect of the study. If you're able to get that, it would be great.
I'll let you respond.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Great. Thank you.
Because I'm very focused on the impacts on the consumer here and it is a big piece, I'm just wondering if you have been receiving any consumer feedback or any increase of sales? How have consumers been responding to the improved systems you've put place to have that traceability of seafood?
11:40 a.m.
Manager, Procurement, Metro Inc.
Because the program is not a recent one, I am not aware of the impacts of the launch in 2010. However, over the past few years, Metro, in Quebec, established a marketing program called “Freshness you can trace”, which is directly related to our traceability program.
There is much more promotion of traceability in the store, in flyers, and even on our website. We've had nothing but positive comments. Many people were not aware that we had this kind of program and they said they were very pleased to see that Metro offered traceability and it showed them that product sustainability was something we cared about.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you.
I have another question, for Madame Canet. Am I pronouncing your last name right?
11:40 a.m.
Project Officer, Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
Yes, you are.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Great.
Madame Canet, I know you can speak only to your work and your experience. You mentioned that Gaspé lobster harvesters are operating at a higher standard of electronic tracking. I'm wondering if you can share a bit with the committee what that generally looks like for others. How does it compare to what's happening in other circumstances to make your process that high standard we're talking about?
March 1st, 2022 / 11:40 a.m.
Project Officer, Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
The e-log response to DFO's requirements followed the declaration of the capture done by DFO. We worked on two projects for the traceability. One was with Metro, actually, and I think that we were together on the working groups, weren't we?
One of the aspects was clearly to get a connection with the computing systems and the various software used throughout the value chain, how they could collect those data and how the data could be transmitted from one actor of the value chain to the other, knowing that the basis was the e-log system. The traceability has to start from the boat, if we really want something that is solid for the end consumer.
These data could, for data protection reasons and for the compatibility of systems, be difficult to put into a traceability system. One needs to look at devices that can be used right from the boat.
Are we looking at the individual animal or are we looking at the box that's unloaded by the fisherman? That would also require the fishermen to adapt their practice at a cost to them in order to start the traceability system.
Does that answer your question?
11:45 a.m.
NDP
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
No, your time is up. It's a little over.
We'll now continue on for five minutes or less with Mr. Arnold, please.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the witnesses for being here today.
I'll start with Ms. Leclerc, if I can. You mentioned in the exchange with my colleague Mr. Perkins that your chain has certain labelling requirements, but then other pieces of it are left up to the suppliers.
Could you elaborate a bit on that? Who would eventually be responsible for auditing and the accountability for what's on the labels?
11:45 a.m.
Manager, Procurement, Metro Inc.
Okay.
As I mentioned earlier, our national brand product suppliers are responsible for their own labels. We cannot make them use ours. Of course, we recommend that they use a program that is as strict as ours. We assess the sustainability of their products as well, meaning that if a national brand product does not meet our criteria for healthy species or responsible fishing, it is not listed among our organizations.
On the other hand, the suppliers are responsible for the packaging and the product label, as well as for implementing their own standards and following the procedures established by national or provincial legislation. They need to ensure that they comply with these requirements. As traceability is voluntary, it's often thrown overboard, so to speak.
For our own products, we are the ones who do the verifications to ensure that the data provided by our suppliers is correct. We also make sure that the traceability stated on our product labels is accurate.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
No.
I'll move on to Ms. Canet, if I can.
Would you say that traceability adds value to the harvesters, processors and retailers in the chain?
11:45 a.m.
Project Officer, Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
Yes, certainly, and I'll give you the example of the Gaspé lobster fishermen's situation in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Because our lobster was identifiable, we were able to get the support of the distributors, such as Metro, who were able to put forward in their retail shops identifiable Quebec products. That allowed our buyers to maintain the price that they were selling to Metro and some more minor chains. Ultimately, the Gaspé lobster fishermen were able to maintain their selling price to the main buyer.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Lobster is a higher-value product, and it's possible to tag individual pieces at the time of catch, whereas it's not current practice to tag the individual pieces of other fish species. Do other harvesters within your organization have traceability programs, and is it possible for them to trace their products if they fish other products?
11:50 a.m.
Project Officer, Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie
You're right. For example, for snow crab it's extremely difficult. To my knowledge, there is no snow crab traceability program currently in place at the level of the fishermen. In order to trace this kind of seafood, one would need to really work by “lot”—I'm not sure how to say it in English—right from the boat, which will require the fishermen to develop certain logistics on their boat. It's the same thing for the landings, in order for the lots, the boxes, to be identified from the beginning. These identifications—
11:50 a.m.
Conservative