Evidence of meeting #15 for International Trade in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
You've got the NCBA down there, and the R-CALF organization is a spin-off to it. The NCBA does nothing right. They don't protect the cattle industry.... You know, we have low groundswells here once in a while.
Executive Director, Canadian Meat Council
Well, the NCBA is the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and this was another beef farmer association.
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
Yes, it's that organization, and they'll know it as R-CALF, Honourable Brison. They'll know it very well. And they didn't run out of money.
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
I know you were.
But I think the rule came under duress. The cost to implement and manage it is serious.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Who are likely our allies in the U.S., in the same way as on the softwood lumber file? The U.S. home-building industry and the U.S. building supply industry want access to competitively priced high-quality Canadian lumber, so there's a natural ally. Who are our allies on the country-of-origin labelling issue in the U.S.? Is it the grocery business? Is it the food stores? I'm trying to seek allies.
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
I think the timing is important. I think it has such a political profile down there. They've been told to voluntarily cooperate with the rule or enforcement will be increased and they won't like the increase. Also, because it's so fresh, everybody is voluntarily cooperating in the spirit of it. I think timing is important, because if they drop the bomb and go to the next plan as per the letter, then we'll really get hurt.
Right now we're in a bit of a grey zone to give you direction. I'd like to say it would be the American Meat Institute, but today they're supporting the spirit of the rule because of the political pressure that everybody is under down there to cooperate. I'm hoping you come back with more information than I can give you. I can't say NCBA supports it today because there's no real.... Five years in the meat business is a lifetime.
Liberal
Executive Director, Canadian Meat Council
One other thing that's important to remember is that they started this particular country-of-origin labelling rule at least five years ago. It has been in the works for five years. Then, recently when we had the contaminated pet food with melamine coming in from China, that added a lot of fuel to the fire. Then they were able to say, look, if we had had this country-of-origin labelling, that would have provided more clarity. That really provided the last little push to get it, I believe.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
The problem is that we're not China and we're not Mexico. We have a very different approach. We have to make that case not just to Secretary Napolitano but to everybody in the U.S.
I have one last request. Can you please provide us with several bullet points we can repeat in every meeting we have with the U.S. legislator on country-of-origin labelling and the risk to U.S. interests? That would be very helpful.
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
Will do, and we can get that back promptly.
Liberal
John Cannis Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Brison. I'm glad you brought up Secretary Napolitano and the fact that we're not Mexico, which is so important.
Ms. Marchand, I was fascinated with your presentation, to tell you the truth. If I understand it, there are two systems in Canada, one in Quebec and one for the rest of Canada. Is that correct?
Do you think one of the impediments we have is that we can't standardize? Would you suggest we standardize, so we have something like a standardized system across the nation that we can use as we export to, I think, 63 different countries? Would that help us overcome? You talked about partnership and the way it works in Quebec. Would you suggest a standardized system would help us in any way?
Executive Director, Agri-Traçabilité Québec Inc.
It is true that we have two systems in Canada that are not equivalent. Discussions on this issue have been underway for several years.
It would be to our advantage, in Quebec, to have the other system in the Canadian west equivalent to ours for all species. Because when a crisis occurs, we are all part of the same country, and the borders shut down for all of us.
So yes, we are working on it. And yes, the Quebec system was offered to the other provinces and for other species. We offered our assistance not necessarily so that people would choose our system, but to ensure that we develop a system equivalent to the one in Quebec.
That would enable us to have the same benefits right across Canada and it would satisfy all of the international requirements that are currently in effect.
Liberal
John Cannis Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Mr. Read, in your presentation you say that you “continue to advocate for a special $50 million dollar bridge fund” to help the industry. That proposal has been on your agenda for quite some time, I presume. Would that work in a partnership format, where your industry and the government would partner up with funding? Can you tell me just a little bit more about this request?
Liberal
John Cannis Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
In other words, how would it help the industry as a whole?
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
Well, because of the current disadvantage of the $30 to $40 a head, all it would do is make our processing costs equal to the United States' processing costs.
This was requested two years ago. I'll be honest with you, I was really disappointed. And it would be strictly a federal program; it wouldn't be a federal-provincial mix or a federal-industry mix. It was something that strictly the meatheads--the meat-packing industry--had to adopt, and in a hurry, so that we could keep our markets open.
From a packing standpoint, within our own organization at the Canadian Meat Council, there was a lot of flux in terms of what we should do. We thought we'd better take the high road and make sure that we didn't make mistakes. But you know, our results of surveillance testing are greater than those of our trade partner's.
Liberal
General Manager, Levinoff-Colbex S.E.C.
No, it's not. It's just to make us equivalent with the United States.