Evidence of meeting #28 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cfia.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Policy and Programs, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Theresa, maybe I can take that one.
COVID-19 is not a food safety issue. The CFIA...that's the extent of our purview. What we did was make the plants have plans in place so that our employees were safe going in there, but we had no authority over the responses of the plants to COVID-19. That really went to local public health.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Okay, thank you. I appreciate that.
Since the onset of COVID-19, there have been major issues with the spread of the virus at meat-processing plants, as you've indicated. One concern was the inspectors could be vectors to the virus, transmitting it from plant to plant. There was also a problem with the shortage of PPE for workers, which contributed to one of the biggest outbreaks in the country at the Cargill plant. Can you tell us what the situation is with respect to access to PPE right now?
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
At the moment we have sufficient PPE for our meat inspectors. We are providing them with disposable masks. Certainly there are cloth or surgical masks—
Liberal
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
We have a sufficient supply of masks and visors for meat inspection staff at the moment.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Thank you.
We heard from previous witnesses in the previous hour that at Cargill the inspectors were coming in without their own equipment. That makes no sense to me when CFIA gets over $749 million a year. Why wouldn't they be able to provide protective equipment to their employees?
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
We began providing equipment to meat inspection staff in meat-processing plants where social distancing could not be respected [Technical difficulty—Editor].
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Mr. Chair, there's interruption with the French here.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Yes, Dr. Kitchen. The translators can't hear Ms. Iuliano. They can't translate.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
I understand that, but I'm hearing the French, as opposed to the English. I'm sure Ms. Iuliano's hearing that same thing, and that's interrupting her time. I'm assuming this is not cutting into my time for questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
I will make some allowances, absolutely.
Let's try again with your question for Ms. Iuliano.
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Mr. Chair, as soon as the public health advice on the use of masks evolved, we immediately procured masks for our front-line staff. Those masks were deployed in late March and we began deploying face shields in mid- to late April.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
How often do you look at the expiry dates of these masks?
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Our occupational health and safety experts would take that into consideration, absolutely.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Good. I just received these from the House of Commons, and they said they have a one-year expiry date. One would assume that's based on the date they were made, but you can't find that date on here. I'm just curious about this, to make certain that you're protecting your employees and that the date is being followed appropriately.
I'm sure—
Conservative
Len Webber Conservative Calgary Confederation, AB
I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman. Are we allowed to use props?
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
My next question is for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
I'm sure they're aware of the minister's comment that due to the carbon tax, the approximate maximum cost per farm for grain drying is $819, with some places being as low as $210. She said that, because of this, farmers do not deserve a cost exemption in the midst of this global pandemic.
Todd Lewis, the chair of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, APAS, has stated, with respect to the minister's statement, that the numbers don’t make sense to him, as some of his farmers are spending upwards of $10,000 in carbon tax on grain drying. I can vouch for that, because many of my constituents have also shown me bills of that immense amount.
Department officials have stated that the numbers quoted by the minister “come from submissions from a number of groups”, one of which was APAS.
Can you tell us why there's such a huge discrepancy between what the minister said and what our farmers are saying?
Director General, Policy, Planning and Integration Directorate, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
I'll offer an answer, although it's not in my area of responsibility, so I wouldn't be able to get into specifics.
You're correct in saying that it is an amalgamation of different information and numbers that came to the department. I've been informed that additional information and numbers for additional clarification will be made public shortly.
Liberal
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being here with us.
My question is for CFIA. Either Ms. Iuliano or Ms. Barnes can answer.
I have a Maple Lodge Farms meat-processing plant in my riding. There was an outbreak, and I heard that you hired 144 inspectors. I want to know what you are doing to protect these workers to ensure that meat-processing plants like Maple Lodge Farms are able to operate safely during COVID-19.
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
We take a number of measures to ensure that our workers can operate in a safe environment. Obviously the health and safety of our staff is the number one priority. It starts with following the advice of public health authorities, and that includes everything from hand hygiene to social distancing to the use of masks and shields where these measures cannot be respected.
We have issued guidance to our inspectors on operating in this COVID environment. This guidance includes undertaking safety assessments before workers enter a plant and after each shift. We've also issued guidance to the industry on mitigation measures that they need to take.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
In April 2020, the federal government invested $20 million in CFIA to ensure that our food supply was secure. Do you think this investment is achieving that goal?
Vice-President, Policy and Programs, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Yes, we certainly do. It has permitted us to hire the extra surge capacity that we've needed. It has also allowed us to finance some overtime for our inspectors because of changes in shifts that the plants want. It has also helped us train new inspectors and give refresher training to our staff. It has allowed us to make investments in IM/IT tools for them to use as well.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
My next question is for the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Throughout COVID-19, we've heard of farmers having to dump their product as they have not been able to distribute it.
What impact will the surplus food rescue program have on addressing this issue to support vulnerable Canadians? Can you explore that?