International Trade Committee on March 17th, 2019

Evidence of meeting #141 for International Trade in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was canola.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Meeting Requested by Four Members of the Committee to Discuss their Request to Undertake a Study of the Revocation of Richardson International's Export Registration by the Chinese Government

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Luc Berthold Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC

John Barlow Foothills, CPC

Robert Sopuck Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, CPC

2:20 p.m.

Foothills, CPC

John Barlow

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I do appreciate the committee allowing a few of us the opportunity to speak here. I know that is not traditional, but, as you mentioned, Mr. Chair, this is an issue that impacts just about every province in the country, and we want to ensure that we have almost every province represented here.

I want to touch on only two issues that haven't been addressed thus far. The one thing I really want to stress as part of why we're calling for this emergency meeting with these three ministers is the critical timing around this issue. I think a lot of people don't understand. They may be thinking this is an issue that's going to impact the crops they are going to be seeding in the next month or so. That is absolutely not the case. This isn't something that's going to impact them when they harvest next fall and start shipping next winter. This impacts the canola that was harvested last year, which is in the storage bins now.

We've seen the price of canola drop by more than a dollar a bushel. That means the value of the crop that is in the bins now waiting to get to market has been reduced by more than $1 billion. I really want to emphasize that this is something that is impacting the pocketbooks of the 43,000 canola growers we have across the country. Over the next few months the bank is going to be calling on them to pay their mortgages, their equipment bills, and the loans and things. They are going to have to be getting contracts ready for shipping next year. This is something that impacts their planning right now.

Some people in Canada are going to be asking why they don't plant something else this spring. Our farmers make these strategic decisions years in advance. They are rotating the crops in their fields. They are looking at the futures market. They can't decide now, because we've lost a very critical market, to go back home and say they will not plant that 1,000 acres of canola this year and will move to barley or something else. These decisions are made years in advance, and this is impacting what they've already harvested.

That's why the timing of this is so critical. That's why I think having an emergency meeting with those three ministers is so important when we have an industry that contributes $26.7 billion to the Canadian economy. As the shadow minister for employment, workforce development and labour, I am saying that there are 250,000 Canadian jobs that rely on this industry.

I spent the constituency week speaking to the producers in my riding, who are extremely frustrated because the timing of this could not be worse, as I said, as they plan for their seeding for this spring but also because of the impact it has on the harvest they have just had, which is in the storage bin.

I appreciate your giving me the opportunity to speak on that.

The last thing I want to touch on is that it's important we have the opportunity to speak to those ministers, because when I was on the agriculture committee—and this was touched on briefly—we had commitments from the agriculture minister and the trade minister at that time to ensure that we would maintain the level of CFIA personnel in our consulates and embassies around the world. I want to make sure we still have those people in place in China, on the ground, having discussions with our counterparts in China to ensure that this can be addressed expeditiously to ensure that we can access that market once again.

We've seen a trend in which our trade in peas and pulses to India has dropped by more than $1 billion. We can't keep losing these markets for our processors and certainly our producers. That's what I want to get across, Mr. Chair, just how critical the timing is.

Again, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak here today.

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking

We're going to move to Mr. Sopuck.

2:20 p.m.

Robert Sopuck Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, CPC

Mr. Chair, I agree with everything my colleagues said, so I will not repeat what they said.

Canola is an iconic Canadian crop. It was developed from a plant called rapeseed, which was used to produce just industrial oil, but through the magic of modern plant technology, Dr. Baldur Stefansson from the University of Manitoba developed canola from rapeseed. In fact, “canola” actually stands for “Canadian oil, low acid”.

This is an iconic crop. This is not something that the rest of the world grows. A tremendous amount of canola is grown in my constituency and the constituencies of my colleagues. I think it's important to put in perspective how iconic this crop is and the importance that those of us who represent canola producers place on this particular crop.

Just to finish, I want to make the point that it's absolutely a farmer issue. A farmer talked to me this morning and said that for him and his family, it's the canola that buys the farm machinery and pays the mortgage. It's very, very important.

Let's not forget as well the thousands and thousands of other jobs right across the country. We tend to focus on producers, and rightly so, but when a crop is grown or an animal is fed out, it sets off a chain of employment that ripples right across the country. In my particular case, there is a canola processing plant at Harrowby in my constituency. I don't know how many of the workers there actually farm or produce canola themselves, but they are part of the canola value chain.

Our briefing notes talked about processing, truckers, local industries and port facilities. Just as the oil sands are often mistaken for an Alberta-only issue, this ripples right across the country. I guarantee that every one of us has constituents who work in the oil sands, and I can almost guarantee that the canola industry creates employment right across the country. Therefore, it's important for us to keep in mind the canola value chain and the workers who depend on the production of this most highly valued crop, which is actually producing the best oil in the world. It's no accident that canola is valued around the world. I think McDonald's french fries are cooked in canola oil, and we all use it at home. We know it's the best. Palm oil cannot hold a candle to canola in terms of all its characteristics.

From a contextual standpoint, I think we should appreciate not only the history of canola but also its widespread ripple effect through our country and economy.

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking

Mr. Masse, do you have a few words to say today?

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks for the opportunity to be here.

I think it's a good opportunity to bring forward something that's timely for not only this committee but also others with regard to non-tariff barriers that are put in front of Canadian businesses, and in this case a number of different independent members of the canola industry. I think that's where there is some government responsibility to act.

The suggestion to bring in the appropriate ministers fits within some of the things that need to be looked at. The non-tariff barriers affect everything, but we have a supply chain that needs to be looked at as well if alternative markets need to be considered in this.

As well, if government policy has impacted the market.... They have had a lot of investment. This is no accident and it's been well spoken to in terms of the planning and production with regard to not only the planting but also penetrating the market to be successful. You can't just flip that around rather quickly. In fact, the supply chain elements remind me of the auto industry that was active and engaged, because in terms of the standards and quality expectations, there is very little forgiveness.

I think a lot of Canadians would be sympathetic to the plight of these people. It's not just a matter of doing something different really quickly, and I don't think we want to. We have actually invested and strategically come into an industry that we can be proud of. We hope the government's reaction to this will be unified and will support our farmers at the end of the day. If some subsequent action needs to take place, it affects everything from borrowing and lending, and it affects equipment that's been purchased and mortgaged and amortized, as well as food safety in this country, in terms of planning.

I think this is a good start and I think a lot of industries would be very sympathetic, because it's not just a simple matter of getting something from the ground to somebody else across the world really simply. This is a fully engaged industry that we should be proud of.

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking

Thank you, Mr. Masse.

We're going to go to Mr. Dhaliwal.

I see that in British Columbia there's over half a billion dollars' worth of canola.

Mr. Dhaliwal, do you have some comments on this?

March 17th, 2019 / 2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC

First, I want to thank you, Mr. Chair, for your comments on the New Zealand situation. I was in New Zealand last week. It was a very sad situation on Friday and Saturday. In fact, I joined my Muslim sisters and brothers in my constituency to mourn, to grieve and to be with our peers. I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness in writing a letter, and I thank all the committee members for supporting that unanimously.

I also want to thank my friend and colleague, Mr. Hoback, for bringing forward this important issue. This is important not only for western Canada, but as Mr. Berthold mentioned, this is an important issue for all of Canada.

Randy, thank you for bringing this forward.

I also want to thank the opposition members on the committee for how constructively we have worked over the last three and a half years. We have achieved a lot on this committee.

It has been a pleasure working with you, Randy, on all the issues.