Jean-Claude Poissant

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, February 6th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for raising this important issue. Canadians' food choices have an impact on food security, health and food safety, our environment and our economy.

The government is working with Canadians to develop a long-term vision for food in our country. This vision is entitled “A Food Policy for Canada”, the first policy of its kind in Canada. We plan to introduce a food policy for Canada by the end of our mandate.

This policy will address food issues and pursue opportunities in areas related to increasing access to affordable food, improving health and food safety, conserving our soil, water, and air, as well as growing more high-quality food.

A food policy will improve how we work together. It will also support the hard work done by our farmers to feed families. The Government of Canada held extensive consultations, and more than 45,000 Canadians shared their thoughts online. We also heard from hundreds of stakeholders through our national and regional engagement sessions and community events. I took part in many of them myself.

People from Charlottetown to Vancouver to Yellowknife and everywhere in between have spoken. We released a report entitled, “What We Heard”, which sums up the consultations. These are some of the key messages we frequently heard during the consultations.

First, there is the urgent need to combat hunger. In Canada, access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods is especially hard for certain groups, including for those who live in poverty, as well as in indigenous and northern communities.

The consultations also showed significant support for conserving air, soil, and water quality. Food waste was raised as a major problem that needs to be addressed. An estimated one-third of food in Canada is lost or wasted and Canadian households spend roughly $10.4 billion a year on food that ends up in the trash, resulting in increased landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and missed opportunities to help combat food insecurity.

We are exploring how we can build stronger food security for Canadians and help Canada continue being a leader in growing healthy, high-quality food. Our farmers work long, hard hours to feed Canadian families.

With a food policy, the Government of Canada, industry and other organizations will be able to work better together towards the health, environmental, social and economic goals related to food.

[Black History Month, February 4th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, this being Black History Month, I would like to tell you about Jean de Dieu Cyhubahiro Rwihaniza, a resident of the riding of La Prairie.

Jean de Dieu left the Republic of the Congo for Rwanda in 2004 because his community was persecuted during the civil war. In 2014, he came to Canada because he and his family were no longer safe. His wife and two children went to Belgium.

He quickly integrated into Canadian society, first working in communications and then in banking. He sponsored his wife and children, who came to Canada in 2016. I would like to salute this exceptional man's courage and perseverance. He chose to live in a society governed by the rule of law, a society where all people have a chance to reach their full potential. He says that he lost two countries but gained Canada. Jean de Dieu is a caring and hard-working man, and I thank him for choosing us and for contributing to our society. I wish him all the best in becoming a citizen.

[Agriculture and Agri-food, February 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the House that while the Conservatives were in power, they slashed $700 million from the Department of Agriculture budget.

We have invested $350 million to support dairy producers and processors. We will continue creating growth and opportunities for Canadian farmers.

[Agriculture and Agri-food, February 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always stood up for farmers and farm families.

We invested $100 million in agricultural science and innovation. In contrast, the Conservatives cut $700 million from Agriculture Canada's budget.

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership will strengthen the agriculture sector and provide tools to ensure the success of Canadian farmers.

[Dairy Industry, January 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I repeat, the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement upholds the three pillars of supply management. The government understands how important Canadian agriculture and agri-food trade is for our economy and our jobs. Our negotiators worked hard to defend the interests of Canadian agriculture at the bargaining table.

Supply management is the system our farmers chose for themselves, and it has been working well for many years. It benefits the Canadian economy, and I can assure the House that we have protected and defended it and always will.

The government is committed to working with the dairy, egg and poultry sectors to determine the best way forward in order to keep these sectors strong, dynamic and innovative at all levels of the supply chain and to ensure that farmers are fairly compensated.

We have created working groups with dairy, egg and poultry farmers to develop a strategy for helping them adapt and innovate—

[Dairy Industry, January 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, a beautiful riding rich in agricultural diversity.

The Government of Canada fully supports dairy, egg and poultry farmers, as well as the supply management system. Canada's dairy, egg and poultry producers and processors contribute to countless other industries, help support local economies, and create prosperous and dynamic rural communities.

Promoting trade and upholding our supply management system are not mutually exclusive. We just concluded two of the most important agreements in Canadian history, namely the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement and the Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership. We have also seen our agreement with the European Union come into force.

All these efforts benefit the Canadian economy, the agri-food sector and farmers. We did all this while protecting our supply management system. The United States tried everything in its power to dismantle our system, but we managed to preserve it, protect it and defend it. The USMCA upholds the three pillars of supply management: production control, price control and import control.

Transparency provisions are common in free trade agreements and do not compromise Canadian sovereignty in any way. They also do not interfere with Canada's ability to change our milk classes as we see fit.

The provisions do not apply only to Canada. The USMCA will require Canada and the United States to inform people and hold consultations regarding various aspects of the milk pricing system.

The government fully supports the dairy, poultry and egg industries, and we are working together to assess the impact that the USMCA will have on those sectors. In order to mitigate the effects of more open access to the dairy, egg, and poultry markets, we have repeatedly said that will we fully and fairly compensate those affected by the agreement.

On that point, the government recently formed working groups with dairy, egg and poultry farmers to discuss the new agreements and collaborate on developing strategies to help them adapt, innovate and remain competitive. These working groups meet regularly and are making good progress. We look forward to meeting with them again to discuss the results of their work. I want to reiterate that the NDP leader said that it was a good agreement given the situation.

[Natural Resources, January 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, now that we are just repeating ourselves, let me repeat what the Prime Minister said:

...the review the NEB will undertake is related to the recent court decision on marine scoping.

That is the main point of this review: fill in the gaps identified by the Federal Court of Appeal. As the Prime Minister also said, direct and indirect impacts were reviewed under the interim principles we announced in January 2016.

Our objective is to ensure that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project moves in the right direction, an objective that Canadians and the courts have come to expect of us.

[Natural Resources, January 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her important question.

I listened carefully to her comments. First, I would like to point out that our government shares the member's commitment to fighting climate change. That is why we are implementing our national climate plan, which includes over 50 commitments to address climate change.

With regard to the Trans Mountain expansion project, as the Prime Minister said when he answered the member's original question in early October, direct and upstream impacts were reviewed under our interim principles, announced in January 2016.

In our interim principles for major projects, our government promised to assess the direct and upstream greenhouse gas emissions of such projects. We kept that promise for the Trans Mountain expansion.

Our interim principles were put in place in order to provide more certainty for proponents and restore the confidence of Canadians.

In response to the Federal Court of Appeal's ruling, we asked the National Energy Board, or NEB, to reconsider its recommendations on the Trans Mountain expansion project to take into account the effects of project-related marine shipping. We are acting in accordance with the Federal Court of Appeal's ruling to find the best path forward for this project.

As part of this targeted review, we asked the NEB to consider our government's efforts to protect southern resident killer whales through a $1.5-billion oceans protection plan.

To ensure that the NEB has the expertise and capacity to consider all of this evidence and to advise the government, we have appointed a special marine technical advisor to support the NEB. As I said, I think this is an important job. He is building on the work that has already been done and is addressing the issues raised by the Federal Court of Appeal. Our objective is to find the best path forward for this project.

[International Trade, January 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, once again, supply management is an integral part of Canadian agriculture. I can guarantee that we have protected and defended it and that we will continue to do so. Trade is vital to the success of our agriculture and agri-food sector. That is why the government is seeking to expand market opportunities and promote the interests of Canadian farmers by negotiating new trade agreements and modernizing existing ones. The government is also committed to working with the dairy, egg and poultry industries to find the path forward that will ensure that our supply managed industries remain strong, stable and competitive in the long term. There is no denying the government's support for supply management and we will continue with this approach.

The government has established working groups with dairy, egg and poultry producers to develop strategies to help them adapt, innovate and remain competitive. These working groups meet regularly and are making good progress.

[International Trade, January 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for raising this important question.

The Government of Canada fully supports Canadian dairy, egg and poultry farmers and our supply management system. Supply management is a system that our farmers chose for themselves and it has been working well for many years. It benefits the Canadian economy and I can assure hon. members that we protected and defended it and will continue to do so.

Our supply management system is viewed as a model of stability around the world. It guarantees an income for farmers, a predictable supply for processors, and top quality dairy, egg, and poultry products for consumers. Canada's dairy, poultry, and egg producers and processors play a key role in ensuring the prosperity and sustainable growth of our country and are an integral part of Canadian agriculture. Production and processing activities contribute to many services and industries that support local economies. CETA upholds the three pillars of supply management: production control, price control, and import control. The government understands the importance of Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector to our economy, trade, and jobs.

Our negotiators worked hard to protect the interests of Canadian agriculture throughout the negotiation process. Promoting trade and maintaining our supply management system are not mutually exclusive. Canada has always signed free trade agreements with major trading partners that are good for Canadians. None of these agreements have threatened the three pillars of supply management. On the contrary, our government has defended our supply management system from strong American attempts to see it dismantled. Through economic agreements such as CETA, the CPTPP and the USMCA, the most important trade agreements in the history of Canada, we have defended, protected and maintained our supply management system. On that point, the government has formed working groups with dairy, egg and poultry farmers that will discuss the details of those new agreements and collaborate on developing strategies to help them adapt, innovate and remain competitive. These working groups meet regularly and are really making progress. We look forward to discussing the results of their work.