Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address the motions we are discussing in Group No. 2, Motion No. 2 and Motions Nos. 6 through 17. They are all part of our discussion at the present time.
Remarks were made earlier by the hon. member for Lotbinière regarding overlap and duplication in agricultural policies and programs between the federal government and provincial jurisdiction. I will address that point for a moment.
That there might be some measure of overlap is probably to be expected since under our Constitution agriculture is specifically and explicitly a joint federal-provincial responsibility.
When we look at the duplication that actually exists, it is truly remarkable that the amount involved in agriculture is tiny. Two studies were conducted within the last year or so by the Government of Quebec. One was released in the spring of this year and the other was released earlier this fall.
One study indicated that at the very worst the amount of overlap and duplication between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec with respect to agriculture might involve a cost in the order of 2.5 per cent. According to the other study, it was more like 1 per cent. According to the studies it is very minor.
On a number of occasions in the House and publicly I have indicated to the Government of Quebec and every other provincial government to the extent that overlap and duplication exist in the field of agriculture, that we should talk about it. We should work it out of the system so we have it at the absolute minimum, even though it is already very small to start with.
There really is no substantial argument to be made on the point of overlap and duplication because there is not much in the first place. To the extent that it does exist the Government of Canada is completely prepared to work with every provincial jurisdiction to identify problem areas that might exist and to work them out of the system so that overlap and duplication are minimized.
In the remarks of the member for Lotbinière I also heard an attempt to demean or diminish the importance of the Canadian federal inspection system in agriculture. That system is vital to Canadian farmers, exporters and consumers in terms of providing this country with the safest and highest quality of food in the world.
Studies, some of which we released at the time of the federal budget last February, indicated Canadians have a very high confidence level in our food system in terms of its health and its safety because of the Canadian food inspection system which ranks among the very best in the world in terms of health and safety standards. That gives our consumers a very strong and positive feeling about the quality of products they buy from the Canadian food system. It also provides our customers abroad with a very high level of expectation about the standards they can receive when they buy from Canada.
I have had the opportunity to visit with our customers in foreign markets, in the Asia-Pacific region, in Latin America, in Europe and in other places around the world. They have repeatedly told me that when they buy from Canada they know they buy the very best and they rely heavily on the high quality, high standard inspection system.
It is not accurate or appropriate to dismiss that as something frivolous or unmeaningful. It matters a lot to Canadian farmers, to Canadian exporters and potential exporters, to Canadian consumers and to our international customers. That inspection system is exceedingly important to all Canadians.
I have heard that comment repeated to me over and over by exporters and potential exporters from Quebec who know the value of the Canadian inspection system and who want to see it maintained in the best interests of Quebec agriculture and Canadian agriculture.
Can we make our inspection system even better? The answer to that is obviously yes. At the present time we are working very hard in co-operation with the private sector and in co-operation with all provincial governments to make that system better. We are working on areas where we can avoid costs in the system. We are working on areas where we can reduce costs in the system. We are working on areas where we can share costs in the system when there is an appropriate sharing of benefits at the same time. We are looking at a whole range of ways in which we can introduce new technology into the system to take advantage of the advances in science and technology in the field of food inspection systems.
We are also pursuing new approaches that have international acceptance such as an approach called HACCP, as it is known by its acronym, the hazard analysis at critical control points system. It is deemed in many jurisdictions around the world to be the very best system to move toward for the future. Many Canadian companies are already beginning to adopt that approach in their inspection standards.
Finally, there is the issue of more co-ordination and co-operation among all those in the system who have some responsibility for inspection.
I have seen examples of inspection situations in the country where three or four federal government departments are involved in some aspect of inspection, perhaps two or three departments at the provincial level and on occasion, some departments at the municipal level. That is an area where there is some overlap we can seriously work at removing from the system. We are trying to do that in two ways.
First, at the federal level we are working very hard on a single federal approach to inspection so that we do not have overlapping activities on the part of several federal departments all inspecting the same thing but simply repeating the process over and over again. We are making progress at working out those illustrations of federal overlap so we get the inspection job done but we do not cause repetitive actions that are in fact counterproductive and costly.
Second, we are working very hard with the provinces, as is evidenced by the last several federal-provincial meetings of agriculture ministers, to develop a Canadian national food inspection system. It is a system where all jurisdictions and all levels that have responsibility work in greater co-ordination with each other so that at the end of the day the very best inspection work gets done at a very high level with excellent standards and calibre, but we avoid costs in the system, overlap and duplication. We then have a system that performs to the very high standards we want at the very least possible cost.
The story of food inspection is one in which Canadians can have confidence and of which they can be very proud both for today and
for the future. Having said that, I would add this one final sentence. It is critically important that we maintain our vigilance with respect to food inspection so that Canadians cannot only have a past reputation for being the very best in the world, but can have the absolute confidence that their reputation will continue forever into the future.
In the group of motions that are specifically before us, Motions Nos. 2, 8, 9 and 12 have already been dealt with, I believe, by my colleague for Brandon-Souris quite effectively. Similarly, Motions Nos. 6, 8, 13, 14, 16 and 17 have been dealt with by the member for Brandon-Souris in considerable detail. I do not propose to repeat what he said.
I want to focus on Motion No. 10, presented by the member for Kindersley-Lloydminster, where he suggests the insertion of the word reasonable. It is obviously our intention, with respect to the matters dealt with under Motion No. 10, to be reasonable. I have no difficulty with the inclusion of that word with respect to Motion No. 10. I would suggest though, as a consequence that it would not be necessary to accept Motion No. 11 because the point is already covered effectively by the amendment we are prepared to accept in Motion No. 10.
All other motions in the package I would recommend against. However, the government is prepared to accept the amendment proposed in Motion No. 10.