House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 37% of the vote.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters July 22nd, 2020
Madam Chair, members will recall that we committed to give dairy farmers $1.75 billion in compensation for the Europe and trans-Pacific deals. They have already received $345 million, and the second payment will be made this year. I can assure the member that we are just as strongly committed when it comes to the deal with the United States and other supply-managed sectors and processors.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters July 22nd, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that I am following this file very closely. We are working with the various stakeholders, including the producers who have a stake in the matter.
Business of Supply June 17th, 2020
Madam Chair, I will repeat what we said to dairy producers who were asking us to provide more resources to the Canadian Dairy Commission. It is not a mortgage. In fact, it gives them the possibility of buying additional quantities of milk-based products, namely butter and cheese, store them and resell that cheese and butter at the same price when demand resumes. That is exactly what the producers asked us to do.
Our commitment remains strong when it comes to compensation related to the agreement with the United States.
Business of Supply June 17th, 2020
Madam Chair, we gave dairy farmers exactly what they wanted, which was to increase the loan capacity of the Canadian Dairy Commission by $200 million. Thanks to supply management, the commission is a very experienced organization and perfectly capable of adapting to the situation. The increased loan capacity will enable the commission to buy greater quantities of butter and cheese to compensate for the drop in demand, mainly from restaurants.
Business of Supply June 17th, 2020
Madam Chair, in the supplementary estimates, amounts are allocated to various groups of producers, including meat processors. That helps our producers indirectly.
Regarding dairy farmers more specifically, our commitment remains firm. We will provide $1.75 billion for the first two agreements with Europe and the trans-Pacific region. The first payment was made at the beginning of the year or the very end of the previous year for some farmers. The rest is coming. Now that we have ratified our agreement with the United States, we will be able to finalize compensation for this third agreement.
Agriculture and Agri-Food May 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, there are many programs available for our farmers. We know that we must do more, and we are working with them to make sure we identify which groups have additional needs. We are listening to them. Again, we heard our farmers when they told us that far too few of them had access to the Canada emergency business account. We broadened the criteria. That represents $670 million in direct aid to our farmers.
Agriculture and Agri-Food May 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, allow me to reiterate everything that we are doing for our producers. We care about them. We know how essential their work is and how important they are in ensuring Canada's food security.
We have risk management programs that offer on average $1.6 billion. We recently announced additional funding of $100,000 for beef and pork producers, $77 million for processors, $20 million for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and $50 million to help bring in temporary foreign workers.
We are going to do more. We know how important our farmers are to the Canadian economy.
Agriculture and Agri-Food May 25th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I would never, ever insult farmers. I have way too much respect for the farmers I have been spending a lot of time with lately. They are the beating heart of my riding. I have enormous respect for farmers, and I know they know it.
We are improving our programs. Let me share an example. The Canada emergency business account was already set up for the agricultural sector, but we heard from a lot of people that many small businesses could not access it. That is why we broadened the criteria. As of now, the account is available to small farmers too, who can access $670 million in direct transfers through it.
Agriculture and Agri-Food May 25th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to remind the House that Canada already has a suite of risk management programs available. These risk management programs are enhanced by various other complementary programs. Taken together, the programs make $1.6 billion available to farmers during ordinary times. That is why I keep saying that is what they should turn to first.
Even so, we will keep adding funds and launching programs. AgriRecovery is a great example of that. In past years, the program made $15 million available, but we have put $125 million into it already.
Canadian Dairy Commission Act May 13th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues well know, we are currently in emergency mode.
We have introduced programs aimed at helping as many Canadians and businesses as we can. We have also begun implementing more targeted measures for each sector, including agriculture, for example.
Right now we need to respond to the more urgent needs. Our commitment to poultry and beef producers remains very firm. As my hon. colleague has suggested, what they want is investments. We will move forward once this crisis is over and we get a chance to look toward the future and begin our economic recovery.