Agriculture committee  The Department of Finance is entirely responsible for the tariff. We don't have anything to do with it.

Agriculture committee  Yes, there is a focus on sustainability in the next policy framework. The Guelph statement, which came out in November of last year, showed the ambition there. In terms of how to define sustainability, it is a bit broader than just pure environment, but there are discussions under way about how to define and quantify the emission reductions, for example, to be clear on the objectives and the results that would be achieved.

Agriculture committee  Yes, there will certainly be other factors in play, because the approach is one of flexibility for provinces to design their approaches, and in some cases other environmental priorities will absolutely be part of it.

Agriculture committee  There is already an existing mechanism in the federal-provincial-territorial framework for environmental plans. They are fairly widespread in use but are not mandatory and are not used by the majority of producers. That is one of the discussions in the federal-provincial negotiations: How can those plans be used?

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. There are lots of discussions between Canada and the provinces, including Quebec. However, as the minister said, there are not as many on this subject with Quebec's department of agriculture, fisheries and food. That's part of the broader framework the minister mentioned earlier.

Agriculture committee  As I was saying earlier, based on our analyses, the system is still relatively stable in terms of bees. We still have partnerships in place for imports. We are closely monitoring potential shortcomings or problems that might arise, and are prepared to increase financial assistance to respond as required.

Agriculture committee  It's the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development who is the lead minister on this. However, I think that the government clearly indicated that it was going to keep a strong supply management system and that it was not going to suggest a solution that was not in Canada's interests.

Agriculture committee  I think there are a couple of things to note here. Certainly water is a priority for the Government of Canada and in the agriculture space for sure. You know that there's a commitment to create a new Canada water agency and to sustain the freshwater action plan. Up to $438 million has been allocated to this in the context of the federal-provincial cost-sharing programs, as water is a prioritized area of expertise and area of action.

Agriculture committee  I think a good example of the response is the AgriRecovery program, which is for the negative side of water, like flooding, and getting on top of managing water issues in that sense. That program was used significantly in British Columbia last year.

Agriculture committee  I'm just looking here to give you the full details to respond to your question. The minister mentioned one specific program of $150 million, the resilient agricultural landscape program. Right now it is one of the programs being negotiated with the provinces and territories in the context of the next policy framework.

Agriculture committee  If you're referring to Bill C‑234 specifically, the government is putting a price on carbon pollution as a critical part of the action plan, and that bill will continue to be debated. I won't refer to the advice that we're proposing to the minister at this point.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, the government has been clear in the overall approach to compensation. The individual compensation agreements were reached through consultation with the different groups of producers and processors. There was a decision made jointly about the best approach. In some cases there was more interest in receiving an investment-style program; in other cases there was more interest in receiving a direct payment program.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. I think to underline the point the minister was making, the targeted reductions are in the emissions associated with fertilizer use rather than the use itself, as I think you noted. There are a number of ways of getting at that. The minister also mentioned some new fertilizer types that are being prototyped for use.

Agriculture committee  Chair, I thank the member for his question. From the information that I've seen, we do understand that mortality is an issue this year. The minister mentioned also that it has been a challenge logistically during COVID-19 because of fewer flights and some restrictions, but the number of bees coming into Canada looks to be steady.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Chair. I'll get right into the member's question. As the member perhaps knows, there are programs that support virtually every sector of the agriculture production system in Canada, so I think the answer to that question is no, we don't have priority sectors per se because we're supporting everything.