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Agriculture committee On the impact on food loss, we're looking at an increase of over 50% for food waste on certain products, which is dramatic. What's really scary is an increase in greenhouse gas emissions of over 50% because of the waste components that start occurring, from field right to the con
February 15th, 2024Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee I was just in Europe last week. We had the opportunity to have one of our team on a panel with German, Dutch and Belgian panellists, an individual from the U.K. and an Italian. There's great concern in the EU, where we're seeing a shift towards looking at how to move to a plastic
February 15th, 2024Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee That's a very conservative estimate of the cost to grocers. The number was derived through work that we've done as an industry with Deloitte to understand what the cost of food will be based on the elimination of plastics. This isn't single-use plastic; these are plastics that
February 15th, 2024Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee Currently there are some alternatives in the market. The industry continues to innovate; however, all these alternatives come with increased cost. If we are looking at using, for example, a clamshell for strawberries in moving to an alternative packaging format, the moisture leve
February 15th, 2024Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning, committee members. I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to speak on the issues impacting Canada's horticultural sector. CPMA, as you know, represents 850 companies growing, packing, shipping and selling fresh fruit and vegeta
February 15th, 2024Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee Thank you, Mr. MacGregor. You hit it right on the head. The industry has been progressive. We have been working, actually since before 2018, to drive change in sustainable packaging. But there's a lot more complexity to where we're going compared with what the policy framework is
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee Thank you, Mr. Chair. Very quickly, there would be a dramatic impact with a 20%-plus cost to food and increased waste. Everything Monsieur Bourgoin mentioned was accurate.
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee It's a complex question. It is getting more complicated to do business. The challenge is beyond just the carbon tax. It also includes looking at the cost of borrowing and interest rates. The complexity and layering of regulatory burden on the industry is becoming a challenge. The
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee It's a combination.
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee It's the culmination. It's the energy and the tax incentives for investment. A range of different elements link into that shift of investment from one country to the other. You add in the packaging. A range of elements come into play. What was the second part of your question?
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee I'm happy to sit down and also work with the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers to look at where and how those cost centres truly impact growth in the marketplace. My chair was former president of BC Hot House.
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee It's a great question. Thank you, Ms. Rood. The opportunity to be part of the discussion in the working group and to provide input through the steering committee was given to Loblaws and Walmart. They leveraged the opportunity to use the Retail Council of Canada and other associ
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee This is very concerning, and I appreciate your bringing this up on committee. Ninety per cent of what packaging does, it does before the consumer sees it. If this moves forward, the notice will remove all bagged salads. It will remove all value-added...so all of the clamshells
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee We have requested a pause and a regroup. I know that the department is very focused on achieving a goal and trying to look at what solutions would be available. The discussion isn't about what the P2 notice looks like; it's about whether the P2 policy model is the right model. We
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire
Agriculture committee Right now, if we're looking at the carbon tax, we see that the issue is that the carbon tax imposes.... I'm going to take the greenhouse industry, because it's one of the key industries in our sector that relies on natural gas to heat; and because of the nature and climate we liv
December 11th, 2023Committee meeting
Ron Lemaire