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Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie (Joliette, BQ)

Jun/16/22 9:19:55 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his speech. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, war and climate change are the main causes of global food insecurity. For example, last summer, droughts in western Canada, the United States and Russia, as well as flooding in Germany, resulted in disastrous harvests. It was hoped that this year, stocks could be replenished. Now, with the war in Ukraine, that will not be possible. What does my colleague think about that?

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Jun/16/22 9:20:33 p.m.
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Madam Chair, unfortunately, I only had five minutes. I can speak for hours on almost any subject, but on this subject I had a lot more to say. The member raised some important points. I would say, at the same time, that some of the polices of the government that supposedly are about responding to climate change are also having a negative effect. Agriculture polices around limiting the use of fertilizer just make no sense. It is making it harder for Canadian farmers to supply more food to the world. We need to recognize all of these different issues and recognize that we need to address the security issue and the international development issues and also support Canadian agriculture as a key part of the response to this crisis.

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Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Jun/16/22 9:21:23 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his intervention. I appreciate him also raising the Holodomor as a serious issue. I wanted to ask him about some of the Canadian companies that continue to do business in Russia. What should be done about their continued participation? In regard to Putin, how long should sanctions remain in place if we are able to see this resolved at any point in time? I would be interested to hear his perspective on that.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Jun/16/22 9:21:53 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in terms of companies that are continuing to do business with Russia, there are two possible circumstances. We could speak about those that may be violating sanctions, and we could also speak about cases where the sanctions are not preventing them from doing that. We need to continue to push for tougher sanctions, and we also need strengthened sanctions enforcement. The member has talked about how we respond to this food crisis. There are many different actions that are required, and part of it is ensuring that victory, supporting our farmers and supporting international development. A lot of work needs to be done, and I hope we are prepared to do that work and have the resolve. On his second question about how long the sanctions should be in place, very clearly we need to be committed to sustaining these sanctions until the Putin regime withdraws from all of Ukraine's sovereign territory, as was recognized by the government of Russia in the Budapest Memorandum.

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Mr. Francis Drouin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)

Jun/16/22 9:23:03 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Kingston and the Islands, a very good colleague of mine. I am pleased to rise virtually and take part in this debate on global food insecurity. This is an issue that the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has been working on for the past week. We have had the opportunity to hear from a number of witnesses, including the Ukrainian agricultural minister. We know how important a contributor Ukraine is to the world's grain supply. Of course, the war caused by Vladimir Putin is illegal. I wish to express my solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are still resisting and fighting every day to maintain sovereignty over their territory. We have heard numerous stories over the past few weeks. What is concerning is that Ukraine typically exports about five to six million tonnes of grain per month. Last week, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that Ukraine was able to export only one million tonnes of grain in May. Obviously, that is causing a ripple effect in the world market. It will cause massive famines in some African countries. This is not only worrying for the Ukrainian people, it is also worrying for developing countries that are not fortunate enough to have such a strong agriculture industry or to get the same yield from their land. Canada plays a fairly important role in the world. More than 20 million tons of wheat are stuck in Ukraine right now. The Ukrainian port is under Russian blockade. I do not need to repeat everything my colleagues from all parties have said. We have seen the consequences of this war. I want to reassure the House that our Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are on the job. They have had several meetings with actors at the international level. G7 and G20 countries are on the job. They are taking action and looking for strategies. It is not easy. It is not just about whether people can farm the land safely. It is also about finding ways, if the land can be farmed and the harvests are good, to export all that grain without access to ports. There is the rub. It is extremely difficult. Last week, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food was told that Ukraine's rail network is not the same as in the rest of Europe. There can be wait times in excess of 27 days. Ukraine asked us to build temporary silos, which can store grain safely for four months while awaiting export. Will Ukraine be able to ship its grain around the world in four months? We are working on all of these issues with several stakeholders. Unfortunately, it is hard to say very much in just five minutes, but I want to reassure my colleagues. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has had several meetings with G7 countries. I know that we are working very closely with Ukraine to come up with solutions. Canadian logistics experts are saying that trucks might have to be used, because that is the only way to get the grain out. Canada will play an important role in this fight to ensure that the whole world has access to food. Again, this is not a partisan issue. I want to thank all my colleagues who have participated in tonight's debate and those who will be speaking later on, too.

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Mr. Dan Mazier (Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, CPC)

Jun/16/22 9:28:02 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I just want to know something. The tariff on fertilizer is disproportionately impacting eastern Canadian farmers, because they have to import. They are the only farmers in Canada who have to import fertilizer. Does my colleague know how much that is costing eastern Canada?

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Mr. Francis Drouin

Jun/16/22 9:28:23 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would encourage the member to move away from that 35%. That is not the only issue. I have suppliers who have rearranged their supply chain and paid a higher price, and I have asked that question of the particular member. An exemption of 35% would exclude the other farmers who may have paid a higher price because their distributors rearranged their supply chains. Obviously, any solution I would advocate for would be a direct help toward farmers as opposed to the simple exemption to certain distributors who decided to continue to deal with Russia. Others rearranged their supply chains and may have paid a higher price, but those farmers also deserve a break, and that is the solution I would advocate for, as opposed to simply a blanket 35% exemption.

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Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie (Joliette, BQ)

Jun/16/22 9:29:14 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am going to come back to the same issue again, because farmers in our ridings keep asking us about it. The fertilizers were purchased and paid for before the war broke out. They are now paying a 35% tariff that was imposed when the war started. However, the farmers had already paid for their orders. Now they have to add a 35% tax, which goes to the government and does absolutely no harm to Russia. I want to ask the parliamentary secretary, as a government representative, why has the government still not done anything about this?

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Mr. Francis Drouin

Jun/16/22 9:29:54 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his question. The farmers who paid for fertilizer last year for this spring signed a contract. I do not think it is fair that they pay a 35% tariff. That risk should be on the distributor or company that did not buy or have the fertilizer arrive at the right time. We are talking about the 35% tariff. However, what would have happened if a ship had sunk? Other risks could come into play as well. Business relations fall to the provinces, and I know the member prefers it when jurisdictions are respected. Other distributors have rearranged their supply chains. Do those farmers, who may have paid a higher price, deserve a lower price as well? I, for one, would advocate for a lower price for all farmers instead of just offering something to farmers who used distributors that are paying the 35% tariff. In my opinion, it should go directly to the farmer.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Jun/16/22 9:31:06 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my colleague and I worked together very well on the ALS caucus, and I enjoyed working with him on that very much. I want to talk about the aid levels Canada is contributing. I do not think anyone in this place will be surprised by that. Under the present government, we are currently at 0.3%. Many people would think the Liberal government, especially with what we heard from the Prime Minister in 2015, would have contributed more, but in fact our highest overseas development assistance came under Joe Clark, when he was the foreign affairs minister, and the Conservative government. We did not get to our target, but we did get to 0.5%. I will say that the Conservative Party of Joe Clark is definitely not the Conservative Party we have now, which ran in 2019 with a massive cut to ODA. When can we expect the Liberal government to live up to the very low standards the Conservative government has set with regard to development assistance?

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Mr. Francis Drouin

Jun/16/22 9:32:13 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I do have the highest esteem for my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona. I think she is a great member of Parliament. In the immediate term, when we are discussing global food security, I would certainly advocate for any programs that go toward increasing the amount toward the World Food Programme, because that is the only way we have. There are vehicles in place and there are systems in place already, and if we reinvent the wheel, we are not going to get the food in time to stop famine in certain countries. Canada will be able to eat, but at what price? There are countries, unfortunately, in the southern hemisphere that will simply run out of food. Canada has already announced $70 million for the World Food Programme, and I would certainly advocate for that to be increased, if it needs to be increased. In the longer term—

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The Assistant Deputy Chair

Jun/16/22 9:32:13 p.m.
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Unfortunately, we have to leave that for another opportunity. Resuming debate, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Jun/16/22 9:33:17 p.m.
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Madam Chair, it is an honour today to rise in the House to speak to this very important issue. I will say from the outset that I have certainly learned a lot from sitting here and listening to the debate over the last few hours about the realities of the situation and, indeed, I have learned a lot of information by listening to my colleagues in the NDP, the Conservatives and the Bloc and what they have had to contribute. First of all, the thing that I find most alarming is the fact that almost one out of every 10 people in the world is currently facing a problem with respect to accessing enough food. That is extremely problematic, and I genuinely believe that Canada has a role to play in that. With respect to the line of questioning that the member for Edmonton Strathcona has been raising over the last few hours, I believe that role is most definitely going to have to increase, in particular as we move forward into the future. We do know that, by 2050, we will need to be producing globally about 70% more food than we currently are. Therefore, when we consider some of that information, notwithstanding the war that is going on in Ukraine, because that is a whole separate issue, there is certainly a role for Canada to play in ensuring that there is access to food throughout the globe. It is not just from a humanitarian perspective, and I asked this in one of my questions earlier. The humanitarian perspective is extremely noble. It is extremely important for a country like Canada to play that role, and I believe that Canada feels an obligation from the humanitarian perspective, but more importantly, it comes back to what the Minister of International Development said in his opening speech on this earlier this evening, when he said that “international assistance is conflict prevention”. If we can make sure that we are playing a very active role in ensuring that people have access to food, we are going to help reduce the conflicts that are happening, which inevitably quite often spill into international conflicts. Another member said, earlier this evening, that wars quite often start as a result of a lack of food, in one way or another, directly or indirectly. When we consider that and consider the real implications of that, it makes absolute sense. A basic human need for survival is the access to food, and when we get to a point where that is not the case, we are going to have conflict. I will just talk, very quickly, about what is going on in Ukraine. When we consider the size of Ukraine, which is the fifth-largest supplier of wheat, we can very quickly see how in a global market this is going to affect different countries and different stakeholders very quickly. Specifically, Ukraine produces 50% of the wheat in Lebanon, 43% in Libya, 22% in Yemen and 21% in Bangladesh. Let us just imagine for a second what happens to the supply chains and the various individuals at the various parts of the production of food when they suddenly cannot access that food. It really makes me think of the insecurity that will exist throughout the world and the conflicts that might end up starting as a result of that. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of what members have to contribute tonight. Certainly, from my perspective, one of the things that are front and centre and that I worry about the most is what that conflict will be like if Canada does not step in and increase our contributions quite a bit more over the years, as we see the demand for food growing throughout the globe.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Jun/16/22 9:37:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I likewise have found this debate very valuable here this evening. There is a unique situation in Ukraine. There is a lot of grain and other agricultural commodities that are there but cannot get out. Some of the neighbouring countries to Ukraine still have a certain level of access to some of those commodities, but there has to be, I would suggest, a significant global effort to make sure that we can engage the global logistics supply chain to ensure that the wheat can get to market. There are a huge number of other challenges, but specifically when it comes to the logistics to help get that wheat to market, I wonder if the parliamentary secretary has any suggestions as to how Canada can help in that process.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Jun/16/22 9:38:59 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as I said, I am learning quite a bit about this tonight in this debate. I will be the first to admit that this is not my field of expertise, but I will say that I have heard both the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and I believe a Conservative member earlier speak to Canada's expertise as it relates to the logistics of moving wheat. Canada can play a huge role in that. I do not personally know exactly what those solutions are, but again, if this is another way that Canada can be an exporter of our incredible understanding and capabilities when it comes to the logistics around this, then we should play a role in that, not just from a humanitarian perspective, but indeed from a global security perspective. Not only is it a problem that Ukraine cannot move the wheat right now, but now it is starting to talk about problems with respect to getting the seed in the ground for next year. I would agree with the member for Battle River—Crowfoot that we need to work quickly to help address these problems with Ukraine so that this does not become a problem that will occur again next year.

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Mrs. Julie Vignola (Beauport—Limoilou, BQ)

Jun/16/22 9:40:22 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what I am hearing is that there are huge needs and that Canada is making an effort to respond. I am thinking about the future, however, because we also need to look ahead. Traditional or ancestral grains are often turned down on the global market because people prefer wheat, rye or barley. Would diversity not be a good thing, and would it not be good to encourage diversity in areas struggling with food insecurity?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Jun/16/22 9:40:59 p.m.
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Madam Chair, now we are really getting out of my field of expertise. I certainly would not want to be weighing in on the appropriate grains that should be moving throughout the global market. I am more than willing to accept that it is a valid question and that perhaps there is an opportunity for Canada to play a role and be a contributor to that. The member might have a very good point. I personally do not know the answer to it, but I would love to hear the answer to it.

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Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Jun/16/22 9:41:34 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the parliamentary secretary made a good point with regard to the vulnerability of other nation-states. Let us take Lebanon as one example. We already know it is tested with regard to the political crisis that it faces. There have been humanitarian issues as well. We know there is going to be vulnerability for regular shipments, even if there is some normalization in the future. What would the member suggest we can do for a state like Lebanon, which we have identified is extremely vulnerable right now? What is this country willing to do to increase its stability knowing that this is a real vulnerability to public safety, food security and the nation-state itself?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Jun/16/22 9:42:22 p.m.
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Madam Chair, this goes back a bit to the question from the member for Battle River—Crowfoot, which is if Canada has expertise with respect to assisting Ukraine with the logistical movement of wheat so it can get to countries such as Lebanon much more efficiently, quickly and reliably. The reality is that when global markets are so interconnected, the slightest little changes can throw a huge wrench into the operation. For a country such as Ukraine, which is the fifth-largest producer of wheat in the global supply, that really becomes problematic in terms of when that starts to be disrupted.

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Mr. Richard Lehoux (Beauce, CPC)

Jun/16/22 9:43:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Battle River—Crowfoot. I rise to participate in this take-note debate on global food security, which was sponsored by my friend and colleague, the member for Foothills. As a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, I have had the opportunity to hear from many stakeholders from around the world about the topic we are discussing this evening. What stood out to me the most was that all of the witnesses projected the same unfortunate reality that the world is at risk of famine in the coming months. Some people may be wondering what Canada can do about this. Let us be clear. Canada should be a global leader in producing and exporting food and easing any global food shortages. However, our country is struggling to get many of its products out to the global market. Whether because of failed trade agreements, lack of processing capacity or even the labour shortage, our country is behind where it should be. It should be one of the world's food production powerhouses. Today's debate seeks to shed light on the problem, which begins of course with the war in Ukraine, but also with many other global tragedies. Let us be honest: The government is contributing to the failures we are seeing today. Many of the problems we are seeing have been amplified by the current government. I would like to begin by discussing one of the problems that, in my opinion, strongly affects farmers, in other words the tariffs that Canada has imposed on Russian fertilizer. This financial burden is being borne by farmers and, once again, no relief has been provided to them. Worse, Canada is the only G7 country to impose such a tariff on Russian fertilizer, and it is our Canadian farmers who are paying the price and being punished. We have proposed solutions. We asked the Liberal government to grant an exemption from the surcharge for fertilizer purchased before March 2, before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Liberals said no. We then asked them if they would compensate the farmers who have had to pay an exorbitant price for these tariffs. Again, the Liberals said no. At a time when the world is facing an imminent threat of food insecurity, we are asking Canadian farmers to produce more. However, they are dealing with other policies that could limit their production, such as reducing fertilizer use and gas taxes. The cost of inputs, such as crop protection products and fertilizers, recently increased dramatically, further reducing our farmers' already razor-thin margins. Ultimately, farmers are price takers and cannot recoup additional costs, unlike many other businesses. These crop inputs are some of the highest expenses for grain growers. They are used as efficiently as possible, but their use should not be limited by a government policy. Canada can be part of the solution, but crops do not grow overnight. We therefore need to ensure that our farmers have the means to increase yields and production to help meet global food shortages. The Conservatives have also proposed other solutions, such as Bill C-234. The problem could be fixed by exempting fuel for farms, lifting tariffs on fertilizer, cutting red tape, and ensuring reliable and accessible shipping and access to labour. Many things are beyond our control, whether it is the weather or the geopolitical ramifications, but there is much the government can do and must do immediately to ensure that our farmers are equipped to help feed the world. In conclusion, through the Chair, I would like to address the NDP-Liberal government and say that Canada must do better. We need a plan, a concrete plan, that will provide solutions for the short, medium and long terms to help not only feed the world, but to feed us Canadians. Tough times lie ahead, and we need a leader who will bring Canadians together, finally cut through the red tape and make the decisions necessary for our country to prosper.

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