Mr. Chair, what means are at the government’s disposal to provide added support and greater opportunities and visibility for Canadian cooperatives?
We believe that a healthy and balanced economy rests on three fundamental pillars: a dynamic and highly productive private sector; a competent and efficient public sector; and a social cooperative economic sector that allows for individual and group accountability and empowerment so individuals can satisfy their own needs.
Besides coaching its own network of affiliated cooperatives, La Coop fédérée plays an active role in developing the cooperative movement in Quebec through financial support for structuring activities. Those activities include the Montreal issue table on cooperatives and mutuals, and a support program for the implementation of new cooperatives, in partnership with the Quebec government.
However, the federal government also has a role to play in the development and implementation of cooperatives in Canada, as it does with private enterprise.
Reinstating a fund dedicated to establishing new cooperatives would be a step in the right direction. Transferring the Rural and Co-operatives Secretariat to Industry Canada could also be a positive initiative if it were supported by sufficient resources to ensure that it could fully perform its role. The department's development policies must encourage, or at the very least not discourage, the cooperative movement and ensure that it becomes a priority for the department going forward.
In order for the movement to develop efficiently, Canadian cooperatives must be adequately monitored. Moreover, cooperatives are a model of economic organization that is different from share-capital businesses. Therefore, a well-organized cooperatives secretariat would ensure that regulations and legislation are not adopted without consideration for their impact on the cooperative sector.
As it pertains specifically to our sector of activity, a recent OECD study confirmed that the proportion of total household spending by Canadian families on food is relatively low, as compared with that of other countries. The proportion is evaluated at 9% in Canada and 7% in the U.S., while in France it is estimated at 14%, and in China it is 35%. That shows that Canadians have a fairly efficient food system.
From the consumer’s point of view and despite recent price increases related to market hypervolatility, we can say with certainty that our agricultural and agri-food sectors are quite efficient.
However, the performance of our agricultural and agri-food sectors, which are at the core of regional economies, could significantly deteriorate if we persist in liberalizing the trade of agricultural foodstuffs without taking into consideration the unique features of this sector. Agriculture and food cannot just be bargaining chips in the liberalization of world trade.
As an agri-food cooperative, La Coop fédérée wants to make our position clear when it comes to the importance of agri-food in the Canadian economy. Agricultural cooperatives have a tremendous presence in this sector. In fact, cooperatives account for a significant share of the agri-food sector. You will be hearing more about the nomenclature over the next few days. We believe that the agri-food sector must remain partially regulated.
La Coop fédérée believes that liberalizing the trade of agricultural foodstuffs is desirable, but must be the subject of an explicit negotiation between all the countries that take into account the population’s food security and sovereignty issues.