Marie-Claude Bibeau

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, February 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, my heart goes out to the farmers and ranchers who are affected by the historic drought of last summer. We are working hard with the provinces and the industry to provide them the support they need and I am in constant contact with the president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the president of the Canadian Pork Council on this issue. We are providing $500 million through the AgriRecovery program and $4 million to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture for the Hay West initiative.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 31st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has not conducted a study regarding the impact of the target on Saskatchewan’s economy.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 31st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the fertilizer target was developed based on scientific literature and internal analysis that points to the potential for optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use with an accompanying reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining or increasing yield. The reduction percentage of 30% was the result of an iterative process weighing various factors and characteristics, such as whether it was ambitious in considering climate goals and international efforts, whether it was technically achievable because technologies and know-how largely exist, whether it was economically feasible as a result of potential cost savings and increased yield through efficiency gains and better management, and whether it was scientifically defensible as supported by research findings relevant to Canadian context.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 31st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the target was developed based on scientific literature and internal analysis that points to the potential for optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use with an accompanying reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining or increasing yield. The reduction percentage of 30% was the result of an iterative process weighing various factors and characteristics, such as whether it was ambitious in considering climate goals and international efforts, whether it was technically achievable because technologies and know-how largely exist, whether it was economically feasible as a result of potential cost savings and increased yield through efficiency gains and better management, and whether it was scientifically defensible as supported by research findings relevant to Canadian context.

The target was finalized in fall 2020 ahead of the release of the “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy" plan.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, our temporary foreign worker programs are extremely important, especially to the agriculture and agri-food sector.

The Minister of Employment, the Minister of Immigration and I can assure the House that we are making headway with this major reform. We want to acknowledge good employers. The vast majority of our employers and agricultural producers are good employers.

We want to find a way to speed up the process and increase the ratio of foreign workers in plants, which has already been done with the Province of Quebec.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to reassure my colleague. As a first step, we signed the agreement with Quebec over the summer. Quebec then went to work with the unions, as we had asked. They came back to the Minister of Employment, who accepted the request. The process is still ongoing, and I very much look forward to our agri-food businesses using this advantage to hire up to 20% foreign workers.

[International Trade, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I can assure my colleague that we are working with border services and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We are doing what we need to do to ensure compliance with the free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico.

[International Trade, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague. We are working closely with the Americans and making sure that the agreement is respected. There are procedures in place, and they will be followed if necessary.

[Foreign Affairs, December 9th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about recent tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has talked to her counterparts.

The parties must abstain from any action that could potentially compromise peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We also recognize that Canada must support regional security and stability.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 3rd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, Canadian farmers are important stewards of the land. Yes, we have set a national target for emission reduction from fertilizer. The western producers conducted an informal survey about the 30% target, and they said, “We asked a dozen soil nutrition experts, including 10 retail, independent and federal government agronomists, who weighed in on this issue. Most agreed that Ottawa's emission reduction goal was achievable and does not require making do with less fertilizer.”