Jean-Claude Poissant

[Regional Archaeology Museum, November 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I was extremely proud to attend last Friday's opening of the new season of the Musée d'archéologie de Roussillon, which is located in my riding of La Prairie. I was even more proud to attend as the museum is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year.

The Musée d'archéologie de Roussillon opened on September 10, 2013, and is much more than just a place to conserve and showcase our heritage. It is first and foremost a place for research and education.

The museum's collection has more than 200,000 artifacts, with many of national interest. It is an incredible treasure that is the envy of several museums not just in Quebec, but across Canada.

To mark this important anniversary, the museum will be free for the entire month of December. I invite all my colleagues to visit the Musée d'archéologie de Roussillon and to discover the richness of Canada's heritage. They will not want to miss it.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental principle of the safe third country agreement is that people must make their claim in the first country they arrive in.

Canada has analyzed recent developments in the United States, including the orders pertaining to immigration and refugees, and considers the United States to be a safe country for asylum seekers.

That said, we continue to raise the issue of the safe third country agreement with the U.S. and we look forward to discussing permanent ways to improve this agreement. Canada must remain a safe place for those truly in need of protection, and we must also maintain the integrity of our immigration system and the safety of our citizens.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to answer the question from the member for Vancouver East.

As my hon. colleague knows, the safe third country agreement was reached with the United States in 2004. This agreement's objectives are to enhance the orderly handling of refugee claims, strengthen public confidence in the integrity of asylum systems and help reduce abuse, and share responsibility for protecting people who need protection.

The fundamental principle of this agreement is that people must claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. People who have a legitimate need for protection have the right to claim asylum. This is why we must make sure we are fulfilling our international obligations regarding refugees and why processes must be effective.

To satisfy the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Canada is constantly reviewing the countries designated as safe third countries. We take our responsibility to monitor the United States as a safe third country very seriously. The Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction sent a letter to the American Secretary of Homeland Security to ask her to address this issue as soon as possible.

Canada has analyzed recent developments in the United States, including orders pertaining to immigration and refugees, and considers the United States to be a safe country for asylum seekers. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is of the same opinion.

Consequently, the safe third country agreement remains an important agreement with the United States that ensures the orderly treatment of asylum seekers. That said, we continue to raise the issue of the agreement at meetings with our U.S. counterparts and we look forward to discussing options that will improve this agreement.

With all the measures taken by the government to help deter irregular migration, we hope to reconcile two objectives: Canada must remain a safe place for those truly in need of protection, but we must also maintain the integrity of our immigration system and the safety of our citizens.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, November 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I repeat, Canada has one of the safest food systems in the world. It is based on sound scientific regulation that is recognized internationally.

This strong, rigorous regulatory system also covers genetically modified crops along with the food and livestock feed that come from those crops. They all must undergo a comprehensive, science-based approval process involving both Health Canada and CFIA.

There are strict requirements regarding the types and quality of the data that must be submitted by applicants. We continue to work with federal departments and provincial ministries, as well as the industry and farmers, to ensure regulatory compliance and to protect Canadian wheat.

The government supports farmers and their families and is working hard to ensure prosperity for Canada's agriculture and agrifood sector now and for years to come.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, November 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the best food safety systems in the world. It is built on internationally recognized scientific regulations.

At the end of January 2018, the Canada Food Inspection Agency, the CFIA, was informed that genetically modified wheat plants were discovered in southern Alberta along the side of an access road after it had been sprayed with herbicide and those plants survived. When the CFIA was informed of this discovery, its scientists immediately began conducting tests to determine why the wheat had survived. The results of the CFIA's tests showed that the wheat that was found had been genetically modified and was tolerant to herbicides. Since genetically modified wheat is not authorized in Canada, the CFIA worked together with its partners at all levels of government on gathering further information, as complete, precise, and credible information as possible on this discovery.

Based on extensive scientific testing, there is no evidence that the genetically modified wheat is present anywhere else other than the isolated site where it was found. It has not entered the human or animal food supply.

We can be certain that the genetically modified wheat does not pose any risk to public safety, animal health or the environment. What is more, we are convinced that the genetically modified wheat did not leave the isolated site, which is being monitored.

Here is another equally important fact. When the extensive scientific testing was complete, our government worked diligently to ensure that our international trading partners had all the information they needed to make informed decisions and to limit market disruptions. To that end, the CFIA developed a test to detect genetically modified wheat. This test was made available to our trading partners so that they could analyze the wheat they imported if they so desired.

Although two of our trading partners, Japan and Korea, temporarily closed their markets to Canadian wheat, they did so only for a short time and it did not have any impact on our trade relations or our partners. It is essential that we ensure that our markets remain open and that Canadians and buyers from around the world continue to have confidence in our top quality Canadian wheat.

As a trusted science-based regulator, the CFIA is committed to being transparent and accountable to Canadians and the international community.

The CFIA understands the importance of Canadian wheat for Canadians and our international trading partners. The CFIA is currently looking into the isolated incident to identify targeted areas for continued improvement. The site will be monitored for a number of years and mitigation measures have been implemented to prevent any genetically modified wheat from persisting.

[Agriculture and Agrifood, November 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, agriculture is a dynamic industry that is full of opportunities, but psychological distress among farmers is an issue that concerns me, both as an MP and as a former farmer.

Earlier today we announced a partnership with 4-H Canada that will help raise awareness among over 24,000 youth and 7,700 volunteer leaders about the importance of mental health.

Farm Credit Canada launched an initiative this week aimed at removing the stigma around mental health. A bilingual publication will be delivered to all farm mailboxes in Canada. The brochure is filled with real stories, advice and tools to help farmers manage their stress, as well as contact information for available resources.

We also announced a project in collaboration with Farm Management Canada to study the link between mental health and decision-making on the farm.

Looking after farmers' psychological health is another way to contribute to the economic vitality of the regions.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, November 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, we have programs to meet the needs of farmers in the west and across Canada. We will work with our provincial counterparts to solve the problem.

[International Trade, November 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to refer to something the NDP member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie said. He told the Canadian negotiators that he wanted to congratulate everyone in the room for the tremendous job they did. He added that the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement was the best possible deal and that it would protect workers across the country.

We agree. The deal meets expectations in terms of stability, growth, maintaining employment and protecting thousands of Canadian jobs. Our government takes a balanced approach to trade. We are defending the supply management system just as we promised we would.

Strong dairy, poultry and egg industries and a competitive agricultural sector are vital to ensuring Canada's prosperity, creating good jobs, growing the middle class and providing high-quality goods to Canadian consumers.

[International Trade, November 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot for her important question.

The Government of Canada strongly supports the supply management system, farmers, their families and producers.

The NDP says one thing in the House, but behind closed doors it admits that this agreement protects Canadian jobs. The leader of the NDP celebrated the agreement at an event in Ottawa last Tuesday evening. The NDP member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, who is also the NDP's Quebec lieutenant, described the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement as the best possible agreement. The NDP privately admits that this is a good agreement because it knows that it protects the millions of Canadian jobs that were in jeopardy.

Canada's supply managed sectors are essential to ensuring our country's prosperity and growth. As the saying goes, if you ate today, thank a farmer. The dairy, egg and poultry industries combined create several thousand jobs in our country and generate $32 billion in economic activity.

Canada's dairy industry, one of the largest segments of the Canadian agrifood sector, generates farm gate sales of $6.5 billion, processing sales of $14 billion, and more than 40,000 jobs.

The USMCA preserves and maintains Canada's supply management system and its three pillars, namely production control, the pricing mechanism and import control. Our government preserved and maintained the supply management system when it negotiated CETA and the CPTPP, and when it renegotiated NAFTA.

We have announced new working groups consisting of producers and processors in the dairy, poultry and egg industries. The working groups will bring together representatives from Canadian dairy organizations and associations, regional representatives and senior officials from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. They will develop mitigation strategies to fully and fairly support producers and processors and help them adapt to the United States—Mexico—Canada agreement.

Supply-managed industries can count on the full support of our government. Our commitment has never wavered.

[International Trade, November 2nd, 2018]

Madam Speaker, we have defended our supply management system against the Americans' aggressive attempts to dismantle it.

Market access is similar to the changes the Conservatives negotiated in the TPP. On Monday, the minister announced the creation of working groups comprised of dairy, egg and poultry farmers, and we are committed to fully and fairly supporting them to ensure their success.