Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We appreciate the opportunity to give you a perspective this afternoon on initiatives by Canada's food service industry to promote healthy, active living. The second slide provides a little bit of background about the CRFA, the Canadian Restaurant and F

Health committee  In the short time left, I would like to focus on two proposals that we would discourage the committee from pursuing. The first is mandatory menu and menu board labelling. I'm sure committee members are familiar with Bill C-283. The stated purpose of this private member's bill i

Health committee  I wouldn't mind starting. Thank you for the question. I think a lot of people would say they would love to see more labelling in restaurants, without fully understanding what the practical realities are. It's the same as if you were to say, wouldn't it be great to have a minimum

Health committee  To try to respond to your question, I think it's a good idea in theory, but in terms of reality and practicality I think it would be almost impossible. I have to give you an example. For instance, if you have a situation where you've implemented Bill C-283, somebody could compl

Health committee  There are now 27 companies, and 41% of chain restaurant establishments are represented in those 27 companies.

Health committee  The program was officially launched in February 2005, so it's a relatively new program, and it is growing. I have to be honest and say we had one small regional chain sign up for the program, but then it found that the program was beyond its ability and dropped out. Even with tha

Health committee  We have to be clear. It can only be companies that have a very high degree of standardization in terms of concepts, menu items, suppliers, and portion controllers. You have to have all of those things before the program can work.

Health committee  You asked what the federal government could do. I'll make two very quick points. I do think education and awareness are critical, and you have touched on that. The other thing is better surveillance. There are all kinds of interventions being discussed. There's so little eviden

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about the number one issue facing Canada's $51-billion food service industry, and that is labour shortages. For our members in western Canada, this is already a crisis. For the balance of the country,

Human Resources committee  I hope I'm going to have some time to answer the question.

Human Resources committee  Okay. I appreciate that. I understand your concern. You don't want employees to be ripped from their communities with children in tow. In all cases I understand that's not realistic, but I think there should be some assistance for those people who are willing to move and are int

Human Resources committee  Yes, but we're looking at demographics. There are going to be labour shortages everywhere. When the season ends at that hotel, those employees may have to commute to where there are jobs in the next community. We know there are a lot of full-year jobs within our industry in all

Human Resources committee  Thanks. I'm going to respond in English; I'm sorry. I appreciate what you're saying, but as I said before, right now it's the employed who are being attracted to the jobs out in western Canada. What we're saying is let's try to match the unemployed with the jobs. We're not sayi

Human Resources committee  I'm sorry; I don't understand.

Human Resources committee  Our industry employs a whole variety of workers. We have shortages in unskilled and skilled—in a variety of positions and wage levels. But I really don't have an answer for how to get businesses to relocate to your region. I'm sorry; I can't help you there.