COVID-19 Emergency Response  And friends in the big grocery business. Mr. Speaker, the mandatory isolation program is about to expire on October 31, which is this Saturday. While the isolation protocols are still in place for seasonal workers, Canadian farmers are already stretched to the max with COVID-19

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Madam Speaker, Loblaws, Metro and Walmart are increasing fees to suppliers for the privilege of selling to their grocery stores. On Wednesday, the CEO of Sobeys announced that his grocery chain would not increase fees to farmers and processors. He said, “I don't think it's health

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Madam Speaker, gouging fees by grocery giants could put farmers and processors out of business in the middle of a pandemic, putting Canadians' jobs and their food security at risk. The government should tell Canadians that it will take action now: not tomorrow and not next week,

Canada's Veterans  Mr. Speaker, 80 years ago, Canada was at war. Canadian soldiers, sailors and air crew fought to guarantee that Canada would remain strong and free. My grandmother, Helen Jamrozinski, fled Poland with her parents and siblings to seek refuge from Communist Stalin and the Russians

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, last week the government refused to answer questions about how it intends to protect Canadian consumers from gouging by grocery giants. First it decided to talk about other government programs, then it decided to blame the provinces, but the government knows it has a

Women in Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, one of the untold Canadian stories is of women in agriculture. Generations of farm women worked side by side with men, preparing fields and gardens, sowing crops, caring for livestock, taking in the harvest and then getting their food to market. Farm women did all of

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, Professor Charlebois from Dalhousie University has described the practices of grocery giants as “supply chain bullying”. He pointed to the fees charged to suppliers by grocery giants such as Loblaws and Walmart to pay for $6 billion in renovations to their stores. T

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should know, and take seriously, that food security in a pandemic is a very real risk. Since March of this year, Canadians have seen shortages of products on grocery store shelves. Producers and processors stepped up and kept food coming from the

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture said last week that year two compensation payments to dairy farmers under CETA and CPTPP would be paid by the end of the year. However, what was unclear from the minister was if she meant the end of the calendar year, December 31, 2020, or

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying more for food, and it could get worse this winter. Last March, grocery sales were up $2.5 billion over February. While grocery giants bank this windfall, they continue to gouge farmers and processors with fees that they say are because of the pan

Agriculture and Agri-Food  Mr. Speaker, what about protecting farmers and processors? Loblaws, Walmart and Metro want to gouge farmers and processors. Loblaws saw record third-quarter profits of about $400 million. Metro's fourth-quarter profits were up 11.4%. However, they want farmers and processors to p

Health of Animals Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his bill. I also have farmers who have had protests on their farms in my riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex. I would like to ask him a quick question. Would the bill also protect the health and welfare of animals at fairs and rodeos? I have a

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, earlier this year, about 360 international farm workers, who were working in greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario, were put in solitary confinement after being required to quarantine in hotel rooms. They had no contact with anyone for 14 days, and 12 of the workers wer

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, is the minister not aware of the inhumane treatment these workers faced? Would she treat Canadians the same way?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, is the minister aware that the 2021 season for greenhouse growers begins in January in Ontario? This is when they need their international farm workers. We need to hear from the minister what she will do to guarantee that we can put them to work right away, when they