Gerry Ritz

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the member is twisting the words a bit. This also makes me wonder why NDP members were so vociferous in the boundary changes of ridings so that they could differentiate between what was rural and what was urban. If the member is proud of the fact that her cows are standing at the subway stop, then so am I. That makes a stronger MP who actually understands better what is going on across this country.

How can the member say it is so important to listen to farmers who live in Montreal and farm out in the country, which is great because we have a lot of them, and say having cows and subways in a riding is important to her, while at the same time her party is fighting to separate rural and urban? It makes no sense, very similar to all of that party's agriculture policy.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to what the Green Party leader said, but the unfortunate part is, if she looked at all those interventions she got, they would be a form letter from the same type of people who are actually operating under misinformation, or myth-information, done willingly by a small splinter group of agricultural producers.

At the end of the day, this actually backstops our organic industry. It makes sure they have the ability to get the new varieties they need to move forward, to get the yields that they need to make that operation a viable operation. Therefore, whether we spend five hours or fifty hours, the ultimate end is, the vast majority of farmers in this democracy we call Canada are demanding this sooner rather than later. Let us just get it done and deliver what they are asking for.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question because it actually laid the foundation to be able to move forward with UPOV '91. When the old single desk monopoly at the Canadian Wheat Board was in place, there was absolutely no demand or desire to move forward with new varieties. The old single desk was so fixated on high protein number one red that it was starting to lose market share around the world and we were hemorrhaging acres of wheat, durum, and barley, simply because of the constrictive, restrictive nature that it operated within. Once we made that change in 2012, and farmers have never looked back, they started to talk about how they could look forward to this new foundational piece with UPOV '91 to move them into the 21st century with the varieties that are required by our customers.

The Wheat Board always used to hold up Warburton's flour mills in Great Britain. I have had the opportunity to be in the mill and talk to the buyers and the owners there. They were to the point where they were actually going to drop away from Canadian content and move to Australia, Argentina, and other suppliers, some in the U.S. and so forth. We actually recaptured that. I am proud to say that Warburton's is actually buying 50% more now, on an annual basis, than it did in its best year under the old single desk. It is contracting acres directly with farmers in western Canada to get the variety and the types of grains it requires for the new mixes it is doing.

We have done a tremendous amount of work blending pea flour into noodles in the Pacific Rim area to get the protein in those noodles, which is a major part of their diet. A lot of good things are happening and it is simply because our farmers are innovative and they need the backstop. They need the tools that UPOV '91 will give them to continue that important work.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would be the first to argue that democracy pivots around the ability to speak one's mind, put forward one's ideas and have them debated, but democracy is also underscored by the fact that we can have our say, but not necessarily our way.

At the end, I continue to work with farm groups across this great country. I probably met with a number of farmers from the riding of the member opposite on a number of issues. Certainly, we work together through our provincial counterparts, directly with industry, to make sure we put our best agricultural foot forward.

A lot of this innovation that we are talking about under UPOV '91 actually allows Canadian agriculture to have a lighter environmental footprint, which is extremely important, moving forward: less pesticides, less chemicals, less fertilizers, all very important to the member opposite, I know.

To get on with 21st century farming, we have to actually have 21st century guidelines.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would challenge any Canadian, if they wanted to, to check the speeches that the NDP give on any on any particular issue, and they would find a carbon copy over and over again. New Democrats will have one or two issues and they overplay them. That is fine. That is their job. That is their role.

However, when we talk about agriculture across Canada, and agriculture on Vancouver Island, which is very important and I absolutely get that, we are talking about grains and oilseed varieties. I have a quote from Keith Kuhl, president of the Canadian Horticultural Council:

As farms work to match production with the growing global population it becomes increasingly important that they have the tools needed to continue to increase production. New varieties are an important segment of this growth. Ensuring that our plant breeders’ rights are aligned with our global trading partners is imperative.

That is from the horticulture industry. There is a tremendous amount of horticulture on Vancouver Island and a tremendous amount of livestock too, which would also benefit from new, improved varieties of feed that will bring the price down so that meat across the counter stays reasonable, so that Canadians continue to enjoy the cheapest food basket against their disposable income in the world, and the quality is unsurpassed.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am not concerned about hearing those concerns at all, but I would like them to come from farmers, people who are actually vested in this particular bill. I am not interested in hearing from people from downtown Vancouver or downtown Montreal. I want to actually talk to farmers whom the bill would impact.

Having said that, I am not concerned to make these arguments with anybody at any time, but I do want them based on sound science. I want them based on evidence that is quantified, that actually shows that this is a very important piece to move our agricultural sector forward in this country.

I am not scared to have that debate with anybody.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have been actively involved in agricultural politics for some 30 years. In that time we have had a lot of discussion about these types of bills and legislative fixes that are required to bring Canada into the 21st century. We have made good strides, and I welcome the intervention from the parliamentary secretary in this regard.

This goes from coast to coast, right from horticulture through to the grains and oilseeds sector. New and better varieties would give us new feed varieties to go into the pork, beef, sheep, and lamb sectors, which are very important. This would let us connect the dots across the spectrum of agriculture, getting the new feed varieties and seed varieties farmers of all stripes have been asking for decades, since UPOV '78.

The biggest difference in UPOV '91 is the ability of farmers to save seed. That is a huge change from UPOV '78, where it does not even exist. That is a tremendous step forward.

There is a lot of misinformation by one or two groups out there that is completely wrong in this respect. That is why all of the mainstream agricultural groups are fully supportive of this and want to see us get it done as soon as possible.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great time to be in government. The Canadian economy is the envy of the world. I lead a lot of trade delegations around the world, and I am here to tell members that they look with envy at what we have been able to do.

I was here last night listening to the NDP's filibuster against free trade with Honduras. Just for the heck of it, I went back to its filibuster against trade with Colombia. It was amazing how a lot of those speeches were identical, word for word. All that the members changed was “Honduras” from “Colombia”.

If we are talking about wasting the House's time and filibustering, I am happy to take our agenda out to the Canadian public at any time, whether it is the next campaign or tomorrow.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are not afraid of any debate on this bill, because I have pages and pages of positive comments, from pretty much every farm group right across this great nation, from horticulture, grains, and oilseeds, about how important this is. It is pivotal and is a real paradigm shift in investing in new seeds and new varieties that are demanded by our customers around the world.

This is what is required to bring us into the 21st century and to make use of the other changes we have made in marketing freedom so that farmers out there have the best and the brightest working for them in science and research around the world. We will be able to bring that to Canada. We will also be able to export that from Canada.

We are well known for the quality and consistency of our agricultural products. It is just unfortunate that the NDP and its allies in that one farm splinter group have been baying at the moon for years and have not allowed this to move forward. That is what is comedy. It is shameful.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we make no apologies for moving forward on our agenda. Canadians are asking us to do that on a number of fronts. One of them, of course, the third-largest driver of the Canadian economy, is agriculture. The processing sector for that primary production is the largest manufacturing sector in Canada.

They need new tools. They need tools of the 21st century, not of 1978. That is exactly what this piece of legislation does.

There have been a number of tries. I remember that the Liberal government, back in the 1990s, brought this forward. The NDP at the time, under the full moon, said that it could not do that, and it backed away.

During our time with a minority government, we brought it forward and tried to move it. Again, the NDP stood up and said that it was not going to allow it to happen. It is the NDP ideology that has led us to this point.

Having said that, this was tabled in December or so. We have had a tremendous amount of input at the agriculture committee around other hearings on moving agriculture forward. A lot of the people, even the Partners in Innovation, were very much onside, when we talked about innovation, that this is the key to moving forward in the seed sector. We intend to do just that.