It's increasing each year.
Evidence of meeting #16 for International Trade in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was tpp.
Evidence of meeting #16 for International Trade in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was tpp.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Why is that, because of competition or just because you're overproducing?
11:55 a.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Blueberry Council
We can grow blueberries so well, and the health halo became a big—
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Oh, you are. Okay.
So for you the TPP is important.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank our guests for being here today. I appreciate your testimony.
Ms. Driediger, you mentioned that 14,000 of 20,000 farm families are represented through your organization. How does that work in B.C.? Who's out? If the 14,000 are in, who's out, just so I can understand your group better, please?
February 4th, 2014 / noon
Chair, British Columbia Agriculture Council
There are a few what we call emerging sectors, which are not necessarily covered at the moment. Mushroom production. They're having some challenges within their organization and structure, so they at this moment don't belong, although they might belong through another group.
Some of the small farms may produce just to keep their farm taxes, so they may not belong to an organization. Also for something like bison, they're not necessarily an organized group that belong to the BCAC.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
Where do the corporate commercial agrifarms fit in, the big commercial ones? Are they part of your organization or are you focused on the family farm?
Noon
Chair, British Columbia Agriculture Council
No. BCAC represents commercial agriculture, and we define “commercial” as large or small. So it's if you are growing to produce, to sell, to produce for a profit. You could be two acres or you can be 2,000 acres, but you're not growing a backyard garden and a couple of sheep for yourself.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
I just don't think that a 20,000-acre spread is exactly a farm family, and that's how you described your organization. I appreciated the clarity with that.
It's interesting with your focus on exports and exporting agricultural products, of which you're obviously clearly proud. I'm curious whether you think there's a market for supply-managed products outside of Canada, like chicken, dairy, eggs.
Noon
Representative, British Columbia Agriculture Council
Just to clarify, you are asking if the supply management commodities could actually develop and grow to a point where they would be exporting?
Noon
Representative, British Columbia Agriculture Council
I would say offhand that the way the programs are set up—it's a domestic supply program—you would be counteractive to the intent of those programs if you started to do that.
There is no doubt there are some export spinoffs. I heard the earlier discussion about powdered milk in the dairy side, and cheese, of course. In chicken, you do have wings and backs and feet and those sorts of things, so there is some of that going on, and those processors have individual agreements with multiple different countries where they do some of that.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
But it isn't an issue of quality and our ability to compete with the rest of the world in these products.
Noon
Representative, British Columbia Agriculture Council
Insomuch as other countries have their own sensitivities around these products, you do run into those sorts of problems.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
Perhaps, but you didn't answer my question, which, by the way, to be fair to you, is redundant. I think we compete with all our products with the best in the world. You can just say yes to that. That's fine.
Noon
Representative, British Columbia Agriculture Council
I take it under advisement, and I wouldn't necessarily say yes.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
Really? You don't think we can? You should have more confidence about our ability to compete, and I don't need to take that under advisement.
A question, then, if I can, please, and a final shot, sir, I promise you.
Ms. Driediger, a question for you. You said that anything we do should include basic human rights and labour standards. That's very interesting. We had some folks yesterday, when they were with us talking about the CETA deal, saying get rid of all that stuff. If all you want to do—and these are some of our civil society groups—is talk about reducing trade barriers, maybe we can get our head around it, but now you add all these other things. But you seem to think that's important. Why is that?
Noon
Chair, British Columbia Agriculture Council
I think it's important in our society. We want to know a lot about our foods, a lot about our products, where they come from, how they're grown. I specifically—I'll refer mainly to my experiences—don't buy certain products from certain countries for packaging say, or boxes, clamshells, that kind of thing because I don't want to think that some poor 10-year-old girl was making them.
I want to know that the products I buy are manufactured in a sustainable manner and by people that are paid well and who have basic human rights. I think as a society we're looking for that.
Noon
Conservative
Ed Holder Conservative London West, ON
I recommend Gildan T-shirts only, Montreal-based. But the others, I can't be confident on how those T-shirts are made.
Ms. Etsell, you had a big fan yesterday in Mayor Bruce Banman, the mayor of Abbotsford. He went on ad nauseam, actually ad valorem—
