House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 37% of the vote.
International Trade June 14th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as we said, we are the party that brought in supply management and we will defend it. It is a model of stability for the world. We are the party that will continue to defend it. We have repeatedly said that our American partners’ proposals on supply management are unacceptable.
International Trade June 14th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, our government strongly supports supply management and is committed to maintaining it.
The Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, our entire Cabinet and the entire caucus, as well as Canada’s trade negotiators, have been very clear and unequivocal on this since NAFTA talks began.
Our government strongly supports supply management and will continue to defend it and all interests of Canadian farm families.
Business of Supply June 14th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
Almost every carbon pricing system in the world includes a mechanism for protecting competitiveness and heavy industry. That includes the systems in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, California, the European Union, and China. We are generating clean economic growth in Canada while protecting competitiveness.
Jurisdictions representing nearly half the global economy are putting a price on carbon, but some companies in Canada compete with other companies that are not subject to a carbon tax. We will continue to protect our environment. As we have been saying from the start, economic development and the environment go hand in hand.
Business of Supply June 14th, 2018
Madam Speaker, Canadians know that there is a cost to pollution. We see it in the droughts, floods, forest fires, and extreme weather events that are occurring. We see it in the effects that pollution has on our health. It is time polluters paid the price.
Ensuring that there is a price on pollution across the country is a matter of fairness. Putting a price on pollution helps us to fight climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, put money in Canadians' pockets, and above all, create jobs for the middle class.
Business of Supply June 14th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to further address the member’s question on a carbon price in agriculture.
In fact, in many ways agriculture is leading the way in our transition to a low-carbon economy. Feeding a growing world population with sustainable agriculture is one of the defining challenges of our time. How do we achieve this goal? One word: innovation. Sustainability and innovation go hand in hand. The agriculture sector already has a solid track record of innovating and adopting new technologies to improve environmental performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In fact, for more than a decade, greenhouse gases from agriculture have remained stable despite growth in production. A century ago, the average farmer produced enough food for about ten people. Today, that farmer can feed well over a hundred.
There is no doubt that science is our most powerful tool when it comes to environment and climate change issues. Thanks to science, Canadian farmers are producing more food with less land and less water. We can indeed have sustainable agriculture for generations to come, but we need to be willing to invest. The government places a high priority on helping farmers adjust to the effects of climate change. Climate change and environment are at the heart of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's new Canadian agricultural partnership.
Through this partnership, over the next five years, the federal, provincial, and territorial governments will invest $3 billion in key priorities of the agriculture sector—including the environment. Programs will help farmers capitalize on opportunities for sustainable growth while adapting to climate change. They will help farmers adopt agriculture technologies and tools to reduce GHG emissions.
Another tremendous success story is the environmental farm plans. The program helps farmers sit down and make an environmental plan for their farm, targeting practical solutions that they can use to help the environment, while boosting their bottom line.
Supported by federal-provincial-territorial funding, over the past quarter century, more than 70,000 Canadian farmers have developed environmental farm plans. Our scientists, working with universities and industry, are also fully engaged in the fight against climate change.
Under budget 2017, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is investing $70 million in agricultural science to address emerging priorities, such as climate change and soil and water conservation.
We are proud to be a government that recognizes science and research as important drivers of clean growth in the agricultural sector.
We will continue to support science and research, including on innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes our investment of $25 million to support the adoption of clean technology by Canadian agricultural producers.
The $2-billion low-carbon economy fund helps provinces and territories to reduce GHG emissions, for example through carbon storage in agricultural soils.
Furthermore, the government is investing $27 million in the agricultural greenhouse gases program to help farmers reduce their carbon footprint. This program is helping farmers reduce greenhouse gases and adjust to climate change in four key areas: management and feeding strategies, capturing carbon through land and tillage practices, agroforestry, and irrigation and drainage for crop production. There are 20 projects at leading universities across Canada, all focused on helping farmers make their farms even greener than they are today.
Recent projects include measuring the environmental footprint of blueberry, potato, and forage cropping systems; environmentally-friendly grazing systems for cattle; and new cereal crops that do not have to be planted every year, saving fertilizer and water. There is also the $5.2-million agricultural youth green jobs initiative, which helps place young Canadians in green jobs within the agriculture sector.
My message today is that Canadian farmers are, and will continue to be, part of the climate change solution. That is why our carbon pricing policy reflects the realities of Canada’s agricultural industry. Our government recognizes that Canadian farmers and farm families are important drivers of the Canadian economy. We understand that Canadian farmers are making important contributions in the fight against climate change, for example by adopting sustainable technologies and practices like precision agriculture or conservation tillage.
We know that farmers are price takers and cannot easily pass cost increases on to consumers. That is why gasoline and diesel fuel for on-farm use is exempt from carbon pricing under the federal backstop. Alberta and British Columbia have already exempted these fuels from their carbon pricing policies. Furthermore, emissions from crop and livestock production will not be subject to carbon pricing under the federal backstop.
Over 70% of Canadian farms are located in provinces that already have a carbon pricing system in place. British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, and Ontario, which account for 80% of Canada's GHG emissions, have already implemented carbon pricing mechanisms.
The pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change was negotiated with the provinces and territories. This historic national framework recognizes that climate action may differ from one region to the next across the country. That is why the framework gives jurisdictions the flexibility to design approaches to pricing pollution that best suit their conditions and priorities, provided they meet the federal benchmark. The provinces and territories are invited to develop their own pricing schemes. They can therefore keep the direct revenues they raise from carbon pricing to use as they see fit.
Ontario and Quebec have cap and trade systems in place. Alberta has a hybrid pricing system. In all three provinces, these systems include opportunities for producers to sell their emission reductions for cash payment. Many producers in Alberta were paid because they used no-till farming.
Stakeholders have asked to be consulted and we are listening. The government will continue to engage industries, provincial and territorial governments, indigenous peoples, environmental groups, and stakeholders on the design of the federal carbon pricing system.
Canada has the opportunity to be a global leader when it comes to feeding a growing world population sustainably. The government will provide the investments needed to maximize and accelerate the efforts of our farmers, our scientists, and industry. The government is committed to supporting farmers as they continue to be responsible stewards of our land, and will continue to work with farmers to help them capture sustainable growth while adapting to climate change.
International Trade June 8th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, we are the ones who created supply management, and we will always protect it.
Who wants to end supply management? The member for Beauce; his leader, who appointed him economic development critic; the member for Lévis—Lotbinière, co-chair of the member for Beauce's leadership bid; and several other Conservative members.
Over here, all the Quebec Liberal MPs support supply management.
International Trade June 8th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, our government supports the supply management system, farmers, and their families. This system is a model of stability around the world. Our party fought to implement this system, and we will continue to protect and defend it.
We have said many times that the proposals from our American partners about supply management are unacceptable. We will continue to protect supply-managed producers, their families, and all agricultural interests.
International Trade June 8th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, our government supports the supply management system, and we support farmers and their families. It was our party that fought to establish the system, and we are still protecting and defending it. We have always said that it is an excellent system.
Do the Harper Conservatives want us to sign just any deal? This government will only sign a deal that is good for all Canadians. We will continue to support supply-managed farmers, their families, and all of our agricultural interests.
International Trade June 8th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, our government strongly supports the supply management system and is committed to maintaining it.
The Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, our entire cabinet, all 41 MPs from Quebec, and Canada's trade negotiators have been very clear and unequivocal on this since the NAFTA talks began. It was a Liberal government that created supply management. We will continue to defend it and protect it, and all interests of farm families.
Agriculture and Agri-Food May 25th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and for introducing a bill to create a national local food day. I am pleased to tell him that we will support his bill.
Our government recognizes the importance of our agriculture and agrifood sector for local and regional economies. We proudly support local agriculture through the Canadian agricultural partnership, a five-year investment of $3 billion in the sector in co-operation with the provinces and territories.