Lyle Vanclief

[Environment, November 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the department has been actively involved in protecting Canada's fragile environment.

Recently we announced the $10 million national soil and water conservation program. That $10 million will be distributed by adaptation councils and other similar groups across the country to conserve and enhance soil and water stability and quality, to conserve biodiversity and to deal with any adverse effects the uses of farm inputs may have.

The province of Ontario was the first to come forward with its application and I have presented it with a $625,000 cheque.

[Dairy Industry, October 31st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, there will be some action this afternoon at 2 o'clock when I meet with the national executive of the Dairy Farmers of Canada to discuss this issue. This is not the first time that I will have met with it.

Discussions are being held on this matter with the finance department, with international trade, with Revenue Canada and with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. We will work to the best of our ability with the dairy industry on this matter.

[Agriculture, October 23rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, in the last round of multinational negotiations the government successfully supported and defended the interests of the supply managed sector. We have also very effectively put in place tariff protection for the producers of dairy, egg and poultry products in this country.

We also very effectively and successfully, in co-operation with the producers, processors and the provinces, succeeded in the arguments with the U.S. NAFTA challenge opposing our actions in the dairy, egg and poultry sector.

We will continue to use that as a template as we negotiate and set our strategies and we go forward into future multilateral and bilateral negotiations.

[Canada Co-Operatives Act, October 22nd, 1997]

moved that Bill C-5, an act respecting cooperatives, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in the House today to make some comments at the second reading stage of the Canada co-operatives act.

This bill will help federally incorporated co-operatives to grow and prosper here in our new competitive economic environment. As members will know, I have been involved in the business of farming all of my life. In my new role as minister of the crown I wear a number of hats, including one with the word “co-op” on it.

Co-operatives have made a tremendous contribution to Canada's economic and social development and we must ensure that they continue to do so.

I express my appreciation to the Minister of Industry and his departmental officials who were instrumental in shaping the co-operative legislation before us today. Officials in our respective departments worked closely in developing policy for this legislation. They worked very closely as well with the Canadian Co-operatives Association and Conseil canadien de la Co-opération. These two organizations played a key role in the development of the legislation.

I know from personal experience the importance of co-ops to the lifeblood of the country. Four out of ten Canadians are members of co-operatives, including credit unions and caisse populaires. Co-operatives are an important vehicle for community based economic development. They are locally based and provide services locally. With so many co-operatives located in rural communities, the co-operative sector has a very significant role to play in maintaining and enhancing the quality of rural life.

Co-operatives emerged first in rural communities in response to an inadequate supply of goods and services at affordable prices. Agricultural producers used the co-operative model to market and process their production.

Stimulated by European immigrants, co-operative creameries were founded and formed by dairy farmers in the maritimes, Quebec and Ontario in the 1870s and 1880s. Co-operatives have been around for a long time.

In western Canada the first co-operatives were formed at the beginning of the century by agricultural producers influenced by American co-operative leaders. Today the biggest non-financial co-operatives in Canada in terms of revenues are agricultural co-operatives. In 1996 eight of them had revenues greater than $1 billion. It has been estimated that co-operatives account for 47% of the market share for poultry, 57% for milk and 59% for grains.

With industrialization people from rural communities across Canada moved to urban areas and brought with them to the urban areas their institutions including co-operatives. Today a majority of co-operatives are located in urban areas. These include housing co-operatives and credit unions.

Over all Canada's 10,000 co-ops employ about 136,000 people, with total assets of more than $155 billion. Co-operatives are a potent force across a wide range of economic sectors from agriculture and fishing to housing, to retailing, to public services.

Many co-operatives are governed by provincial law, but 50 co-operatives under federal jurisdiction conduct business in more than one province and are among the largest co-operatives in the country.

The grassroots partnership inherent in co-operatives can play a major part in achieving genuine lasting economic growth in our cities and in our rural communities. Co-ops are major economic engines in Canada with the top 50 co-operatives increasing their workforce by 5% in 1995. The co-operative movement reaches into every sector of the Canadian economy. Consumer co-operatives, mainly retail enterprises, had more than three million members and $6.4 billion in revenue in 1995.

Perhaps more important the co-operative movement is tightly woven into the social fabric of the country. For example, service co-operatives are a growing part of Canadian communities in the areas of child care, housing, health, community development, fine arts and cultural services.

Worker co-operatives, mainly small and medium size enterprises, are becoming well established and give Canadians more control over their jobs and an opportunity to open viable businesses. In some cases they have helped keep business ventures alive in the face of closures or layoffs.

Another example is aboriginal co-operatives which have played an important role in the economic development of native communities. With more than 20,000 members they are the second largest source of employment in the north after government.

The legislation before the House today provides co-operatives with the tools they need to continue their long history of contributing to the economic and social make-up of Canada. Under the revamped legislation co-operatives would be given a modernized framework similar to the legislation governing other federal corporate and financial institutions and eliminating needless red tape.

For example, incorporation procedures would provide for an approach closer to the Canada Business Corporations Act. Under this new co-operative legislation, however, enterprises would have to certify that they operate on a co-operative bases.

Co-operatives will be better equipped to compete with other businesses by having more flexibility in the make-up of their boards of directors. They will also have new opportunities to raise capital.

Under the new legislation a co-op will be able to issue investment shares to non-members. This will allow co-operatives better access to equity financing while maintaining control of co-operatives in the hands of its members.

Putting co-operatives on an equal footing with business corporations through modernized corporate governance rules requires a strengthening of co-operative principles in the legislation. Co-operatives unite voluntarily and pool their resources in pursuit of common economic interests.

They embrace co-operative principles which centre around concepts of democratic control, equality, equity, education and concern for community. The decisions of co-operatives reflect the interest of the communities in which they operate.

These essential features will be strengthened and enshrined by reinforcing the requirement that a co-operative must be organized and operated on a co-operative basis.

Co-operatives are a powerful form of business organization which contributes in a very significant way to economic growth, job creation and prosperity of communities across the country.

Modernized legislation will equip these co-operatives with the legislative and regulatory authority needed to take advantage of options designed to strengthen their ability to prosper and grow in an evolving economy.

Co-operatives have already made an important contribution to rural Canada and to the economic renewal of our rural communities. This is a key priority of the government, a commitment we have been delivering on since we took office.

We are helping rural Canadians access information technologies and the information needed to develop a vibrant, self-reliant and innovative business sector. In part this is to provide rural Canada with the tools it needs to take greater charge of its future. A new Canadian co-operatives act is another important tool to help make that happen.

Co-operatives will continue to play an important role in promoting jobs and growth in the future as they have in the past. For my part I intend to be a strong and effective voice for the co-operatives sector in the federal cabinet and to do all that I can do within my department and my jurisdiction to help position this sector for sustained growth into the next century.

[Ways And Means, October 22nd, 1997]

moved that a ways and means motion respecting the imposition of duties of customs and other taxes, to provide relief against the imposition of certain duties and taxes and to provide for other related matters, be concurred in.

[Canadian Wheat Board Act, October 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in the House today and make some comments on Bill C-4. I am pleased to speak in support of the motion to refer Bill C-4 to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food.

I congratulate my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, for the work he has done in the process of developing the bill over the last number of years.

For 62 years the Canadian Wheat Board has been one of the cornerstones of our nation's success in agriculture and agri-food. Changes in Bill C-4 build on that success by providing for a more modern Canadian Wheat Board, one that is more accountable to farmers, more flexible and more responsive. Farmers will have a direct role in shaping the operations and directions of the corporation. They will have more power to take on the very real challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Throughout the preparation and debate on the legislation we have done everything possible to ensure that everybody with an interest in this complex issue has a had a full and fair opportunity to voice an opinion.

In July 1995 my predecessor as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food established the western grain marketing panel to conduct a comprehensive examination of western grain marketing issues. One year later after extensive consultations, including 15 town hall meetings and 12 days of public hearings across the prairies, the panel completed its report and submitted it to the minister.

The minister distributed a summary of the report's recommendations to all farmers in western Canada and invited their feedback. In one way or another more than 12,000 individuals and organizations responded to the panel's recommendations.

In December 1996 Bill C-72 was tabled in the House of Commons. In February 1997 the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, which I chaired at that time, held a series of meetings across western Canada. We visited Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Grande Prairie. We heard from more than 40 groups and a similar number of individual farmers during those committee hearings.

As a result of those hearings we made more than 20 amendments to the bill before we reported it back to the House in April 1997. I am pleased to note that the amendments were retained in the new bill. The system does work.

Over the course of the past summer the minister responsible for the wheat board continued to conduct informal consultations with the grains industry officials to hear views on the legislation. In early September he requested views from farm organizations on the appropriate principles to govern the election of the directors. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that the future of the Canadian Wheat Board has been exhaustively discussed and debated.

The purpose of the amendments is to respond to some of the major concerns raised during the debate and to ensure that the CWB is well positioned to continue as a reliable, responsive single desk seller of Canadian wheat and barley in the years ahead.

Our objective is to build on the proven strengths of our existing marketing system while enhancing its accountability, improving its responsiveness to changing producer needs and opportunities, providing more flexibility and faster cashflows, and minimizing future complications in international trade.

We are taking action on all of the points raised by the panel with regard to the accountability of the Canadian Wheat Board. As the minister responsible for the wheat board has explained, under the legislation the current commissioner structure of management would be replaced by a part-time 15 member board of directors.

It would be comprised of ten producer elected representatives and five government appointees including a full-time president. Both the chief executive officer and the full-time president would be responsible for the day to day operations of the board.

The CWB status as an agent of the crown and crown corporation would end when the new board of directors assumes office. The Canadian Wheat Board Advisory Committee would be terminated when deemed appropriate by the minister responsible for the wheat board but not before the end of its current mandate at the end of 1998.

The changes in the bill would also allow the Canadian Wheat Board to offer farmers more options in terms of pricing and timing of payment for their grain and provide it with greater flexibility in the way it acquires grain. At the same time the amendments leave intact the basic principles of single desk selling.

The legislation also includes provisions for adding additional grains to the marketing mandate of the Canadian Wheat Board. I want opposition members to listen to the process that has to take place. In such a case the request would first have to come from a recognized commodity group and the board of directors would have to recommend the inclusion. Then a vote on the inclusion by the producers of that grain would also have to be held. There are a number of steps. After that the changes to the marketing mandate of the Canadian Wheat Board could then be made through an order in council.

The amendments in the bill would also give the board of directors the power to exclude specific types, classes or varieties of wheat or barley from exclusive Canadian Wheat Board jurisdiction in the domestic or export market. This authority would be exercised only upon the recommendation of the board of directors. There would have to be assurances from the Canadian Grain Commission that the necessary quality control measures were in place to avoid co-mingling of grains.

If the board of directors considers the exclusion to be a significant change, a vote of the producers would also have to be held. Again a number of steps would have to take place.

A Canadian Wheat Board governed by a board of directors comprised of a majority of producer elected members would improve accountability to and communications with producers. It would also result in an increased sense of producer ownership of their marketing organization.

While the self-sufficiency of the Canadian Wheat Board would increase, the government would still have an important role to play in supporting it. For example, the government would continue to provide financial backing for initial payments, borrowing, and for such programs as the credit grain sales program. The changes would provide the board with more flexibility in the acquisition and the pricing of wheat and barley enabling it to operate more efficiently, increase returns to farmers and reduce the risk to government.

As I have discussed the bill responds to views expressed by numerous stakeholders. It is important to note, however, that the amendments do not constitute the full response of the Government of Canada to the concerns of the Canadian grain producers and the recommendations of the western grain panel. We are also pursuing many other avenues to address other issues that they brought forward related to grain marketing and transportation.

For example, last November our government introduced legislation to modernize the Canada Labour Code. Among other things those amendments stipulate that while grain handlers and their employees will retain the right to strike and lockout, in the event of a work stoppage involving other parties in port related activities, services affecting grain shipments must be maintained.

On another important issue, specifically the efficiency of our transportation system, the Minister of Transport, the minister responsible for the wheat board and I met this summer on July 25 with key members of the grain industry in Winnipeg. As as result of that meeting the grain transportation industry has developed and put in place a monitoring program and a contingency plan to ensure efficiency in the movement of grain.

Through Bill C-4 and other actions the Government of Canada is demonstrating it is listening to the concerns of Canadian grain producers. It is taking action to address those concerns. It is laying the foundation for continuing growth and prosperity in the grain sector and Canada's rural communities.

I call upon all the members of the House to lend their support to the amendments contained in the legislation.

[Dairy Industry, October 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to congratulate the member for her election to the House. I look forward to working with her which she has already shown enthusiasm to do.

The government and the dairy industry are already putting a strategy together to deal with the section 301 challenge that the United States has put on a track toward the WTO. If that challenge does go through the whole process and to a final panel, we will use those strategies to defend the dairy industry as we did in the NAFTA panel. I remind everyone Canada received a unanimous decision in our favour. We will again defend the Canadian dairy industry vigorously.

[Quinte Ballet School, April 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Quinte Ballet School is one of only four professional ballet schools in Canada. In 1997 it celebrates 25 years of success in Belleville.

Some would call it a labour of love, sustained by the hearts and souls of dedicated teachers and staff, tireless volunteers and talented young people who have one driving sacrifice, a dream to dance well.

Under the capable directorship of Brian Scott, the Quinte Ballet School has produced some of the best young dancers in the world. Keep up the good work everyone, and congratulations. We are proud of this cultural jewel in Belleville.

[Committees Of The House, April 16th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food which deals with Bill C-72, the Canadian Wheat Board Act.

I am proud to report the bill with several amendments.

[Food And Consumer Products Manufacturers Of Canada, April 14th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, 90 per cent of the members of this House have companies in their ridings that belong to the Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada. One-quarter of a million Canadians are directly employed by members of this important association.

Members of the Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada are in Ottawa this week for food and consumer products week on the Hill. Senior company representatives are discussing the future of this important industry, the second largest manufacturing industry in Canada and which contributes $11 billion to our economy.

I urge all members to join me in welcoming these industry representatives to Ottawa and in wishing them a successful week on the Hill.