Agriculture committee  This plan is unique in Canada, and even in America. It allows us to have farms on a human scale and families who work there and who can establish a succession. We have real negotiating power. The most difficult part was the fact that a processor had a monopoly in Quebec. From the

Agriculture committee  All models can be good, as long as they produce wealth in various places in Quebec. There is no single model for large slaughterhouses. We do things differently in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada. In the Maritimes, everyone in the sector is also under tremendous stress right now.

Agriculture committee  That's a very good question. I would indeed like to make that request. The first thing to understand is that we are also in a storm and it is related to two factors. Hog production is cyclical. We can deal with a cycle. On the other hand, this plant closure comes during a cyclic

Agriculture committee  Yes, clearly. On the labour side, I've had seven employees for seven years now and every time I have to go through the same application process again. This work should be much more fluid. There are also announcements about the possibility of some workers becoming Canadian citizen

Agriculture committee  Good evening, Mr. Chair. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. First of all, on behalf of Quebec hog producers, I would like to express my gratitude for having been invited to participate in this meeting. The announcement of

Agriculture committee  Countries all around the globe are investing heavily in robotics, because they are all facing a labour shortage. Strategically, that is certainly what has to be done. Employers understand that, but they will not be able to do it alone. The first part of the problem at least must

Agriculture committee  Clearly. We have about 800 employees recruited overseas who are ready to come here. They have their passports and their visas. All they need now is to receive the federal government documents that allow them to come and be put into categories by Immigration, Refugees and Citizens

Agriculture committee  Exactly.

Agriculture committee  The hogs will mainly have to be moved to western Canada and to the United States, provided we manage to find transportation. We have always refused to perform animal welfare slaughter, but there are limits. If we manage to find solutions, we will implement them.

Agriculture committee  Our contacts for transportation and logistics are saying that a certain number of hogs could be transported in mid–April.

Agriculture committee  You are right. Over the past seven years, I have only hired temporary foreign workers. I have had no choice. However, I must reapply every six months, even though the same people are returning to work for me every year. The administrative work is very difficult. There are now al

Agriculture committee  I will give you a very concrete example. Last year, we had to export a lot of bone–in meat to Asia and Mexico. When I say a lot, I mean from 20% to 25% of our production. That is because we did not have the workers needed to debone the meat. Those types of decisions are made by t

Agriculture committee  The repercussions started to emerge last year, when slaughterhouses closed, but especially when some slaughterhouses had to stop all operations for periods of time. So slaughterhouses that had the capacity to slaughter 40,000 hogs a week were managing to slaughter just 20,000 or

Agriculture committee  The argument we have been defending for some time now is that production cannot stop. We have met with various ministers on this. Following insemination, the rearing period takes 10 months before the animal ends up in the slaughter line. Problems begin as soon as slaughter capaci

Agriculture committee  I think that would be logical, as our sector is related to agricultural production. Last year, the Government of Quebec created programs to pay a portion of wages for people who would work on farms. However, that program was a failure. Working in agriculture is very demanding. Q