Agriculture committee  There's an irony. Yes, we don't have the ability to charge it back, because the very people who are levying the fees against us are the ones we go to for a price increase, so there is that—

Agriculture committee  I was going to say one sentence and then conclude.

Agriculture committee  A code could encourage greater accountability and transparency in the retailer-supplier relationship, and create the balanced and competitive grocery retail environment necessary to support growth along the food chain. We thank you for your time today.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation today to discuss dairy processors' views on our country's food processing capacity. I'm the board chair of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, as well as the president and C

Agriculture committee  I appreciate the question. Certainly it is fundamental to ensure the TRQ allocations to those who have bricks and mortar within the country. There have been billions of dollars spent in investing in Canadian processing capacity and capabilities, and when you talk about the shot i

Agriculture committee  In conclusion, the pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to the entire Canadian economy.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I'll start. On behalf of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, I would like to thank you for the invitation to appear today to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Canada's dairy processing industry. I am the chair of the DPAC board, plus I am also the president a

Agriculture committee  We cannot come here today without putting into a broader context the impact of COVID-19 in the dairy sector. At full implementation, when considering the latest three agreements, Canadian dairy processors will lose $320 million per year on their net margin. On top of the market a

Agriculture committee  I would say that over the last three years, since the industry-led resolution of class 6 and class 7—which is part of the agreement in the sense that it has to be replaced—we certainly saw that growth take place from 2015 to 2017 when the agreement came forward. I would say that

Agriculture committee  Yes, the two years is, by any stretch, not enough. Just to put it into perspective, in order to invest in one of those technologies you're talking about, ordering the equipment requires a two-year time frame. Installing a greenfield requires a three-year investment, so I'm just g

Agriculture committee  Certainly that is still open for negotiation. We have made it very clear as a processor association that we don't want the same agreement that took place under CETA. We want to ensure that TRQ is put in the hands of those who have actually invested in bricks and mortar—to go to

Agriculture committee  I would quickly add that, as a farmer-owned co-operative, the second-largest co-operative, Gay Lea Foods has 1,400 farms that I represent, which are concerned about exactly the same thing that you're concerned about and that Dave has reiterated—about investment in Canada to be ab

Agriculture committee  As Gilles has outlined, and certainly many of our members.... There's been a considerable $7-billion investment. If you take the crystal ball and take a look at this, on the caps, it's imperative to be able to.... Although supply management is primarily a domestic balancing syste

Agriculture committee  I'm recognizing that all three of us are going to speak to this one. Certainly there was good communication throughout the process of the negotiation of the agreement itself. There was certainly a great deal of dialogue, but we were surprised at the final iteration of the agree

Agriculture committee  Last year, recommendations by the mitigation working group that was created by the government in October 2018, in which we have actively participated, were submitted to the Minister of Agri-food on program and financial impact of the dairy processing sector. This is based on the