Finance committee  Well, it doesn't matter whether you're talking soybeans, beef, grain products or any other product, Brazil has become a leader in worldwide trade. If they get that advantage, it actually hurts Canadian producers, because some of these commodities trade with very small margins.

Finance committee  Soybeans would be one that comes to mind fairly quickly. The corn trade, again, would be one where there's a big impact. With Brazil at the present time, it's predominantly the crop sector, but I think in the meat sector there's more work being done in Brazil on beef production and pork production as well.

Finance committee  Part of the problem is that we haven't had a really clear discussion yet on what should be core funding for government and what should be project funding. Some of the announcements that have been made have increased the amount of money available for research and project funding, but then there have been cutbacks of the A-base funding.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to attend and make a presentation. Many of you will likely be aware that the Canadian Federation of Agriculture represents about 200,000 farmers from across the country. We work back and forth with Finance on a number of issues, but specifically today we're talking about some of the key aspects of Bill C-60.

Environment committee  First of all, the normal response from agriculture producers when regulations are introduced is usually a bit of pushback. I can see the role of regulations as the last ditch effort, but it shouldn't be the first response. The first response should be trying to clearly identify what it is you want to protect and what needs to be done to do it, and then try to put programs in place that would do that.

Environment committee  There is no one direct answer for that. I think most farmers actually enjoy seeing some wildlife interacting with their landscape. I think the real issue is when it becomes an issue that goes beyond the economic threshold and they run into severe economic losses. One of the things that we do see happening is that farmers are starting to look at ways to mitigate that.

Environment committee  It goes back to that whole thing of balance.

Environment committee  I think you have to understand that some of these birds look at the farmers' fields as very easy to get at and free food. In a natural habitat, they would be foraging somewhere else. I think one of the things we've seen develop over the years is that the wildlife have become very adapted to finding an easy and cheap food source, and farmers' fields are that source.

Environment committee  The simplest answer would be to say that we have very developed farm organizations in Canada. Each province delivers the environmental farm plan within the province. I'm in the province of Ontario, and the Ontario soil and crop association takes over the administration of this program.

Environment committee  Yes. This whole process started back in the early 1990s in Ontario, when the farmers themselves realized that there was increased pressure to respond to environmental concerns. They decided to get ahead of the wave and start doing some of the work themselves. The government's role is to provide funding to assist in the development of the workbooks, identify best management practices, maybe do some pilot projects.

Environment committee  I think there are a number of things we could be looking at. To start with, I'd base it in the initial phase on looking at the environmental farm planning process, because that then identifies some of the areas where habitat could be protected. When you go through that process, you evaluate what you can do, if you're going to make some changes, to mitigate damage on habitat.

Environment committee  I think it would be fairly simple to incorporate. As I mentioned we have had great success in developing environmental farm plans on farms, where we step back and take a look at all the environmental issues. If habitat protection were included as part of that, you could put a long-range plan together.

Environment committee  It boils down to looking at things for the long term. When you have a term like “protection”, that almost creates the impression that it's an outright ban on any damage to habitat. If you look at something like effective protection, that, in our mind, would mean that you're taking steps over the long run to protect habitat.

Environment committee  Yes. There were changes proposed for bobolink protection that would almost make it a crime to do any damage to the habitat. It goes against the economic side of farming. A lot of the harvesting of the hay and the harvesting of alfalfa, in particular, has to be done when it's at its prime state to get the maximum economic value.

Environment committee  Thank you, and thanks for the invitation to come and present to your committee. As mentioned, my name is Ron Bonnett. In addition to being president of the CFA, I'm an active farmer near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. CFA has been long involved with a number of environmental initiatives, whether it be species at risk or the national conservation plan that's been announced.