44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 16, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/16/22 10:04:23 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.
It is an honour to rise in this House on this subject. Many people might be asking why a member of Parliament from Vancouver is speaking about an issue that in many cases is focused on farming and on challenges facing many of our farmers, as we think about global food security and insecurity. It is because food security is not an issue just for rural Canada, but it is for all Canadians.
I want to begin by thanking the member for Battle River—Crowfoot and his family for the work they do in ensuring Canadians have food on their tables. It is an important part of making sure we all appreciate and recognize the efforts that families are making.
In my riding of Vancouver Granville, there are companies like Terramera that are doing innovative work and making it possible for us to do better at using technology to increase agricultural supply and to improve the way in which we grow in an environmentally sustainable way. It is important for us to remember that innovation is a big part of how we are going to be able to get through this together.
However, the reality we face today is that, thanks to Vladimir Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, one of the world's greatest grain suppliers is in crisis. The world is looking to Canada, as we have heard, to step up, and we will.
Our world-class agriculture and agri-food industry is a major driver of food security in over 200 countries around the world. Last year, despite the challenges of the pandemic, our agri-food exports topped $82 billion in 204 countries and territories. We are committed to ensuring farmers have the tools and the supports they need to keep their businesses strong, so they can feed Canadians and the world.
Right now, we all know Canadian farmers are facing higher costs and shortages for their inputs. Whether it is fertilizer or fuel, due to the disruption of supply chains caused by the conflict in Ukraine, farmers are hurting. We know that fertilizer is vital to Canadian farmers to grow their crops and help feed the world. We are working with government and industry partners to ensure that farmers have access to fertilizer for Canada to do its part during this time of global food insecurity.
For starters, we changed the advance payments program, allowing producers to receive 100% of their cash advances immediately when they apply rather than in two instalments. This program will offer farmers low-interest loans to help cover their seeding costs in the spring. We have also extended the deadline for the AgriStability program to help more farmers manage the severe challenges they are facing. This program will help farmers cover significant drops in farm income.
As well as being a leading food producer, Canada is also the world's largest producer and exporter of potash fertilizer. On Monday, our government announced significant support for the new sustainable potash mine to be developed by BHP in Jansen, Saskatchewan. Our support of this innovative project is a long-term investment in global food security and environmental sustainability. We are glad to support these efforts to minimize the carbon footprint of the potash mine and to implement technology to further reduce emissions from mine operations, because this will be the world's greenest potash mine.
Our investment will help to ensure Canada's position as a leading exporter of potash is maintained and will help strengthen food security. The demand for potash will continue to grow due to a need to increase crop yields to feed a growing global population.
To ensure the long-term viability of our agriculture sector, we will keep making record investments to help Canadian farmers build on the great work they are already doing for all of us. We will do whatever it takes to ensure Canadian farmers have access to the resources and tools they need to ensure a stable food supply for Canadians and for the rest of the world.
Throughout the pandemic, we introduced a number of measures to help ensure the supply chain worked as effectively as possible, including support for farmers and food processors to invest in safety protocols to keep their farms and plants running. The COVID-19 crisis reinforced Canada's reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality agriculture and food products around the world. As a nation that exports much more food than we import, we showed how vital we are in helping our trading partners feed their populations.
To maximize our trade opportunities, we have been working hard to diversify our trade through agreements with key trading partners, including the EU, North America and the countries of the trans-Pacific, with 15 trade agreements covering 51 countries giving Canadian farmers a competitive edge in over 60% of the global economy.
We are going to keep advocating for farmers and advocating free trade that is open and based on rules. We are going to continue to work with the WTO and our G20 partners as well as our North American colleagues to maximize our opportunities under the existing agreement while exploring new alliances.
The best way to strengthen global food security is to support the hard-working men and women who produce our food, and that is exactly what we are going to do.
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- Jun/16/22 10:09:47 p.m.
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Madam Chair, one of the things that it is important for us to do, as a government, is to ensure that we are making investments with partners to ensure that the work that is being done on mines like this one is done in a way that protects the environment and natural resources, and ensures that we are leading when it comes to ensuring that our food security and food stability, and the production of potash, is done in a way that is environmentally sustainable and protects our planet.
That is the way of the future. We cannot do the things we have done in the past. We need to use innovation. We need to make those investments to ensure that companies such as BHP do the work that is required to do things in a sustainable manner to protect our environment and our environmental infrastructure.
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- Jun/16/22 10:11:35 p.m.
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My colleague is right, Madam Chair. This is a problem, not only for today, but also for tomorrow and next year. We will have to work with our international partners to fix this problem.
We must continue to support Ukraine in this war. We must also continue to work together to help Canadian farmers produce the essential foods that our country and the world need.
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- Jun/16/22 10:13:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I agree with the hon. member. It is important for us to recognize what we are facing with the invasion of Ukraine. What we have seen in other parts of the world is an increase in the rise of what I would call authoritarianism and a move away from the world order where we respect human rights and where we respect pluralism. We have really turned away from the values that have made this world work in the way that it has in the past.
The opportunity for Canada is to lean into what we do best, which is to export our values of pluralism, of inclusivity, of working together, of innovation, of respecting diversity and respecting one another to solve problems. The way that we battle misinformation and disinformation is by coming out with reasons for people to feel good about things and by actually showing that there is strength in solving problems together. It is not a zero-sum game. We can all do better.
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