Human Resources Committee on Oct. 27th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Falk.

Ms. Koutrakis, you have five minutes.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank all the witnesses for joining us this morning.

It is truly concerning to hear about the situation facing many families and children across Canada today. That is why the government has repeatedly increased funding for a number of programs. I won't list them all, as I believe you are familiar with all the programs we are trying to put in place to help families.

Ms. Marin, at the end of your speech, you mentioned that solutions already exist. I'd like to give you the opportunity to go into a little more detail about the solutions that are already in place and how we could improve them.

[Valérie Marin]

There are already successful initiatives in place, including Ms. Lavoie's project in Vancouver, the one we have established in the Brome-Missisquoi RCM, and dozens of others across the country that recover and process surplus food. I'm using this example because it's my area of expertise, but it's clear that these initiatives work and that they are very much a reality. The challenge is to ensure that they can continue. We need to ensure that the initiatives that are already working are sustainable in the long term. That is essentially what I meant to say.

In our case, we have this initiative, but there are several others. I was just reading in Le Droit that in Gatineau, there's going to be an initiative involving community food banks to prevent food waste and repurpose food.

It's certainly essential to support the initiatives that already exist and are working, while also looking at how they can be replicated, because we can see that they work. That was the point I wanted to raise.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I believe you are currently continuing your master's degree in this subject.

[Valérie Marin]

I actually completed it last December. My study focused on the integrated system we established in Brome‑Missisquoi. We continue to maintain, improve and transform it so we can provide services to as many people as possible. That's an ongoing challenge. We also need to improve our techniques.

Complying with provincial health and safety standards is definitely a challenge too. As people have mentioned a few times, transportation is another issue, specifically when it comes to maintaining the cold chain. There are logistical considerations that make it difficult to sustain these initiatives in the long-term.

Earlier, the witness pointed out that we get food for free, but, as I said, just because the food is free doesn't mean it's accessible. There's an entire system behind the scenes that enables us to get this food to families, and that's the work that needs support.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Over the course of your studies and your experience with partnerships, have you had opportunities to look at what other jurisdictions are doing? Are there any studies? Are there other countries with programs like this that are working and that we could look to as examples?

[Valérie Marin]

Several countries have anti-waste policies. For example, the Garot law in France prohibits retailers from throwing away food that is still fit for consumption.

That kind of approach has its issues. If we ever decide to adopt similar legislation here, I believe it should be designed to be more incentive-based than punitive. Organizations need the capacity to respond and recover the food so retailers aren't penalized. We really have to give it a lot of thought.

That said, there are a lot of very inspiring examples from around the world.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Koutrakis.

Ms. Larouche, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Once again, we are seeing the impact of food inflation on household incomes. We know new groups of people are feeling the pinch. Even working people can no longer make ends meet and have to seek assistance. Some schools have waiting lists for breakfast programs. Seniors on fixed incomes can no longer afford rent or food. In some cases, beyond having to turn to food assistance, they may even end up experiencing homelessness, whether hidden or visible. That's what happens when people don't have enough income to meet basic needs, such as adequate housing and food.

Let's talk more about how we can help you. Your breakfast club and your food bank are experiencing the impact of food inflation. Ms. Marin, you clearly demonstrated that in your master's research and in your call for an anti-food-waste policy. You touched on it with my colleague in the previous round. You've started seeing the impact. Is there anything else you'd like to add on that?

As you said, you've looked at what's happening elsewhere, in places like France. You talked about an approach that you think should be more incentive-based than punitive. Is there anything else you'd like to add on the subject of an anti-food-waste policy?

[Valérie Marin]

The policy certainly has to be well thought out because, ultimately, we want people to participate and we want them to do so willingly. There are good examples around the world that we can draw on to ensure that it's workable in Canada.

I know that there's also an issue associated with different provincial frameworks and different ministries in charge. For instance, Quebec has a ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food. I am aware of two anti-food-waste policy bills that have already been introduced in Quebec. They're relatively simple but comprehensive policies. I would recommend taking a look at them if you're interested. One of the bills was introduced by Mr. Arseneau, and the other came from Québec solidaire, but I don't remember who introduced it. They're straightforward, practical policies and excellent sources of inspiration. I would favour simple policies over highly complex ones.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Do the Viande solidaire project and gleaning fit into this kind of anti-food-waste policy?

[Valérie Marin]

Gleaning presents a human resources challenge. It's typically done by volunteers. We all understand that gleaning must happen right away, not next day, so it's tricky to organize.

The Viande solidaire project is currently being implemented in the Eastern Townships.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

Mr. Reynolds, you have five minutes.

This will conclude the first hour of this round.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for coming here today, and thank you so much for all the important work you're doing in serving Canadians and helping Canadians eat. That's scary to say.

There have been a few startling statistics shared with the committee today. There are 2.4 million children experiencing food insecurity. Food prices have increased 28% since 2021. Families with two working parents are having to access food banks to get food security. This is scary to me. People going hungry today is part of the problem, a big part of the problem, but also, I think, in the short term, it's part of the solution.... In the long term, I think the real root of the problem is our food prices. Like I said, there has been a 28% increase since 2021, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. I want to talk a bit more about that.

Madam Marin, my first question is for you.

What would you say is the root cause for the steady rise in food prices beyond normal inflation—because clearly this is not normal inflation—over the last five years? That lines up with that 28% increase since 2021.

[Valérie Marin]

We depend heavily on food that comes from elsewhere. We bring food in instead of growing it here and strengthening local agriculture so that more of what we consume is produced locally. Transportation is a big issue. Our food comes from elsewhere. We're very dependent on food that comes from elsewhere.

I would also point out that the grocery market in Canada is dominated by three major players. I can't tell you exactly how it works because I'm not involved in it, but consider a franchised grocery store that wants to promote local products and local producers. It's at a disadvantage because it doesn't buy in bulk or because of the fee structure. We had conversations with local grocers about why grocery stores and food retailers weren't promoting local products. There's a much larger, more powerful structure that puts them at a disadvantage if they put local agricultural products on their shelves.

So, yes, I think the lack of diversity in food distribution across Canada is a problem.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Do you know how much of the food we consume here in Canada, on a percentage basis, is from Canada?

[Valérie Marin]

I don't know what that would be for Canada as a whole, but I can tell you that it's less than 4% in the RCM of Brome-Missisquoi.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Okay. Thank you.

My next question is for Madam Lavoie.

You mentioned that in Canada, we have a food waste problem and a food distribution problem. I'd really like to hear more about that, if you could elaborate on it.

[Melissa Lavoie]

Certainly. Loaves and Fishes is really founded on the belief that there is an abundance of food in Canada. It is not like some other countries that simply do not have food resources available. We have food. It is simply not utilized to its highest and best use. It is not made available widely to the population. A lot goes to waste and ends up creating other problems in terms of landfill use, recycling problems with the plastic packaging and all of those other ancillary issues that arise from our food supply beliefs.

For example, when you stop at the grocery store on the way home from work at eight o'clock at night, you expect to see a full shelf of beautiful strawberries in their plastic clamshell packaging, but where do those go the next day, when they're no longer suitable for distribution to the public? They go to the landfill, unless we have a food recovery system that can take them and redistribute them elsewhere.

That is what I mean when I say we have an abundance of food in Canada. A great portion of it goes to waste, and what doesn't go to waste is often not distributed appropriately across the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.

To conclude, we have Ms. Nguyen for five minutes.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you very much.

I want to say a huge thank you to the witnesses for joining us today.

I'm going to ask my questions in English, because I'm more comfortable in English.

I want to start with the Breakfast Club of Canada.

I know that in the Toronto area you are supporting over 850 breakfast programs and reaching more than 250,000 children. Can you tell me what this means in terms of the level of need of school food programs that you're seeing in the city?

[Judith Barry]

In Toronto, and in Ontario specifically, more public schools than ever are accessing public funds for implementing snack, breakfast and morning meal programs, and lunch programs as well. What we've been witnessing is that the quality and variety of food that is offered is problematic. We can provide a program in pretty much all public schools, but is it really five days a week? Is it really universal and providing healthy, nutritious food? It's not, everywhere.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you for adding a little bit of detail.

Madam Marin, you talked about reducing stigma in the idea of a universal program for food. I was wondering if that principle applies to other kinds of programs and supports that we need to see in communities to keep them resilient and functioning well. It's the idea of universality of these approaches to keep making sure that kids can access the food they need.

[Valérie Marin]

I know United Way has some programs that provide schools supplies every year. There are a lot of programs like that to help children out every fall so that they have all the school supplies they need, just like everyone else.

We worked on that with United Way. We made sure that the people helping with sponsorship didn't have children at the participating schools because we didn't want kids recognizing donated items. Stigma is still an issue in schools and can lead to many other issues, such as bullying.