Agriculture committee  There have been discussions at various levels. I'm not in a position to confirm exactly who it was or when it happened, but what I'm telling you—

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Berthold, I work very well with Ms. Freeland. You asked the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to appear before you. I'm telling you that my—

Agriculture committee  The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is the one before you. I'm telling you that my mandate is to defend our Canadian producers and products. That's what I'm doing. I have an obligation to defend the quality of our Canadian canola, and I do so with all the determination in t

Agriculture committee  I also have a duty to ensure that our inspection system remains robust. It's truly a fundamental issue, and our farmers understand that very well.

Agriculture committee  I have asked for evidence. I still haven't received any. This canola shipment was inspected before and after, and there was no evidence that it did not meet Chinese requirements.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Berthold, let me start by telling you that the canola file arrived on the first Tuesday after I took the position. It has been a priority for me, and for our government, since the first day.

Agriculture committee  I sent a letter to my counterpart and I received a reply. This is done on a daily basis…

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you for the first time. As you know, these have been some very busy first weeks for me since I took over the portfolio at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on March 1. I've embraced my new role

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we have been involved in this matter for two months. It did not take us six weeks, like my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable, to ask the question and it did not take us two months, like the Leader of the Opposition, to wake up and smell the canola. We have been work

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, for two months, we have been working extensively on this file with farmers, with the industry and with our provincial colleagues. There have been video conferences between officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and their counterparts. We are working tirel

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we have been working on this issue since the beginning. It took six weeks for my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable to ask me the first question about canola. Since the very beginning, I have been working with our farmers, with our producers, with the industry, with ou

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, ever since I was appointed to my new position on March 1, I have been working very hard on this issue with my colleagues, the Minister of International Trade Diversification, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister, as well as our provincial counterpar

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we have been standing shoulder to shoulder with our canola farmers from the very beginning. We stand with them and their families. We know that we have the best canola in the world. We have a very robust inspection system, and we are having an ongoing conversation wi

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we were working on this issue from the first day while our Conservative colleagues kept asking questions on other issues. It took them six weeks to ask the first question on the canola issue. I have been working on this, and our team has been working with the indust