44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 16, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/16/22 7:01:53 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, anyone who has read about the history of conflict knows that a lot of the conflicts have started because of the lack of food. If we just look at the Syrian crisis, we see that it was because of food prices increasing that protests took place in Syria, and the Assad regime went extremely hard on the population when the uprising started. Right now we have to be very mindful, from previous experience, to look at the touchpoints where food insecurity is taking place.
We are coordinating our approach so that we can make sure we are showing support, but it is absolutely vital, not just within Canada but also in the international community, that we send a strong message to the global south, which is dealing with this crisis, that we will be there for them while we deal with the crisis in Ukraine.
147 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 7:02:46 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, we have complex crises and emergencies: the climate crisis, the pandemic, an energy crisis, the war. All of them are affecting food insecurity. When so many complex systems present themselves in crises, there is more we can do than provide food aid, as his department can do. How do we think strategically to actually confront these multiple crises?
60 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 7:23:35 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, the economic situation is out of control. People are worried about inflation, and rightly so. For instance, gas is at $2.24 a litre today in my riding, Joliette. This is devastating. The hardest hit are obviously low-income families whose obligations force them to drive a lot. The current reality is also really tough for businesses in certain sectors such as transportation, of course, as well as agriculture. Rising prices will help the energy transition in the long term, but will increase misery in the short term.
The cost of housing is no more encouraging. Finding available affordable housing has become mission impossible. The price of houses and condos has exploded. However, according to experts, rising food prices could soon overtake energy and housing prices by a wide margin. The world is at risk of a food shortage this year, which will lead to skyrocketing prices and a serious global famine.
The current situation is in large part a result of the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are the world's breadbasket. These two countries account for 30% of global wheat exports and 20% of global corn exports. They also export 65% of the world's sunflower oil. Russia has significantly cut back on its exports so that it can continue to feed its citizens at the same cost. As for Ukraine, its existing reserves are difficult to export, and there is a great deal of uncertainty about potential future harvests.
Food prices in Ukraine are skyrocketing, and Ukrainians could be facing a famine. For example, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, around half of the wheat reserves and nearly 40% of the rye in Ukraine are in war-affected areas. The damage caused by the war will reduce grain reserves and limit production and cultivated acreage for years to come.
The damage to infrastructure makes it difficult to get humanitarian aid to Ukraine and to transport the resources that can still be saved.
According to the World Bank, global agricultural commodity prices rose 41% between January and May and are still rising. During the same period, the price of corn jumped 54%, and the price of wheat jumped 60%. With its current budgets, the UN World Food Programme cannot feed as many people.
Also according to the FAO, war and climate change are the main causes of global food insecurity, in Ukraine and elsewhere. It predicts that 44 countries will require food aid in 2022, particularly in West and East Africa due to conflicts in those regions, food commodity prices, and crop failures.
Faced with the expected risk of food shortages, several countries have begun halting exports in order to strategically prioritize their own people. For instance, India stopped exporting its wheat, and then Indonesia halted palm oil exports. This food protectionism could trigger a domino effect with even more tragic consequences.
Here, as elsewhere, production costs will soar, because the price of inputs has also exploded. For example, fertilizers come mostly from Russia and Belarus. Their prices had increased even before the war. Now they have doubled or tripled. What is more, this government is still imposing a 35% tax on them, even though they were ordered and paid for before the invasion of Ukraine.
The rising cost of diesel fuel must also be taken into account. When economist Sylvain Charlebois appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance last month, the agri-food market expert said that supply chain issues are making it difficult for farmers to plan. Their inputs are not consistently available. He also reminded the committee that last summer, western Canada, the United States and Russia experienced major droughts, while Germany experienced major flooding. The result of all this was that the 2021 crops were so poor that reserves are currently low. They were counting on 2022 to replenish their reserves, but with the war, that will not be possible. The economist also added that it was not possible to increase cropland acreage in the short term. However, he did say that the spring flooding in Manitoba is not expected to have much of an impact on the harvest, as it delayed seeding by only a few weeks.
All that adds up to significantly higher food prices in the coming months, much higher than what we are seeing now. For example, Germany is expecting grocery prices to increase by an average of 50%. Food will be 50% more expensive. It should be less than that in Quebec and Canada. That is how it is likely to play out in rich countries.
People in poor countries will likely face famine, which is why international institutions are calling for greater solidarity, especially seeing as less wealthy countries were encouraged to go into debt to get through the pandemic more easily. As a result, they are now deep in debt and will not likely have the means to import enough food at high prices.
Add to that the fact that many of them are already subsidizing basic foods to make sure their citizens can feed themselves. These countries will have to import food at high prices even as they spend more of their budget on food subsidies. African countries are particularly vulnerable.
A significant portion of crops are now traded on the stock exchange. For example, a future crop can be sold in advance and traded several times on the stock exchange. This practice can drive up the price of commodities for speculative purposes. It is a bit like oil. People take advantage of the context to drive prices up and line their pockets. This situation is a reminder of the limits of using markets.
The situation is such that food will be a major problem this year and for years to come. According to a partner with the firm McKinsey, even with an optimistic view of the crisis, things are unlikely to return to normal before 2024. The food crisis will require an exemplary demonstration of international solidarity. It also reminds us that war always has a greater impact than anticipated. Let us hope that a peaceful resolution will be negotiated to end this war, primarily for the sake of the Ukrainian people, but also to limit the effects of a food crisis that has already begun.
We have an obligation to show solidarity to combat hunger on a global scale. We also need to do more to support our farmers. Finally, we must do more to ensure global peace and do our part to limit climate change. I hope this government is taking notes right now.
1104 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 7:38:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, this crisis is incredible, and its effects will be lasting. I cannot help but think of the old saying, give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
Millions of dollars in food aid is like giving people a fish, not like teaching them to fish. I would like my colleague to comment on how knowledge, local knowledge, especially in African countries, is essential to helping people develop a local, responsible, sustainable agricultural economy.
91 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 7:51:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague for Edmonton Strathcona for her dedicated commitment to this issue. I think we share a lot of the same commitment and passion for what really is an absolute crisis in the world.
One thing I would ask my colleague is about the $250 million a year figure she cited. I know the minister earlier pointed to $514 million just for this current crisis, plus the $100 million we are giving to the African Development Bank, but even last year there was $306 million given only to the World Food Programme. That does not include everything else we are doing in food assistance. Could she perhaps clarify the statistic there?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 8:10:53 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, we are in a really disturbing time, because all the myths of globalization have been blown apart. We saw it happen during COVID. Supply chain networks, access to PPE and the ability to supply our own communities were severely hampered. We are now seeing Putin use food as a weapon of war, threatening possible mass hunger. We are also seeing supply chain issues from the climate crisis. I was speaking earlier about the crisis of the Colorado River. It supplies a lot of agricultural support to the southern United States, which feeds world markets.
I want to ask my colleague about the bigger question of whether or not the government is looking at how we deal with supply issues and how we deal with instability in a world where globalization is falling apart and we have war criminals like Putin using food as a hunger weapon. Our old systems are not working. What is the government looking at in terms of a new strategy to get Canada secure and help the world be more secure?
177 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 8:41:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I am going to bring this back to the global food crisis. I know there has been a lot of discussion about farmers in western Canada, but really what we are talking about is the global food crisis.
I want to let the member know that right now we are facing hunger that is generational in scope. There are 181 million people at risk of starving to death. In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, one person is dying from hunger every 48 seconds, so this is pretty desperate. I wonder if the member could tell me what he thinks is an appropriate percentage the Canadian government should be spending on food security and support for international development.
118 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 9:12:31 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, we are in the House tonight talking about probably one of the most critical issues that we are going be confronting in this Parliament. We are talking about a global food crisis and we need to talk about it more. We are talking about a global food crisis in which hundreds of millions of people's lives and well-being are at stake. We know already that 181 million people are expected to be at crisis or worse levels of hunger around the world. This is a massive challenge that we need to talk about more: the global food crisis. We need to be sounding the alarm on this and calling for stronger government action.
How do we address this challenge? I think we need to reflect on the need to focus more on food security and food aid as part of international development. We need to talk about the role the Russian aggression is playing in causing global hunger. We need to talk about how Canadian government policy is hurting the agricultural sector and reducing its ability to respond to this global crisis. All three of these are parts of the response we need to have.
When it comes to Canadian international development, I want to add my voice to those who are calling on the government to step up and do more to confront the global food crisis, to spend more specifically on issues of food security and emergency food support. I think, too often, the current Liberal government wants to focus on using international assistance to play wedge politics and divide Canadians. Additionally, we have seen money spent through foreign vehicles such as the Chinese state-controlled Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is something the Conservatives oppose. Our international assistance should not be about wedge politics, it should not be about supporting authoritarian states, and it certainly should not be about currying political favour as part of some Security Council election. Our international development should be squarely focused on supporting the most vulnerable around the world and helping them meet vital needs such as access to food. We need to do more. We should do more, and these vital needs for the most vulnerable need to be our focus.
It is important for Canadians to understand that this escalating food crisis is one of the effects of the horrific invasion of Ukraine by the Putin regime. Ukrainian farmers play a critical role in exporting food to the world, and the critical supply line for that food is export through the Black Sea. The total invasion of Ukraine by Russia from three sides included an amphibious assault through the Black Sea, and the Putin regime is now blockading the export of food from Ukraine. Russia is also mining agricultural land, destroying equipment and otherwise making it very difficult for Russian farmers to do what they do best.
What is happening in Ukraine, and particularly in the Black Sea, is very insidious. It is a return to the Stalin-era policy of using mass starvation as a political tool. Stalin sought to erase Ukrainian identity and used mass starvation as a tool of genocide during the Holodomor. Vladimir Putin is also trying to erase Ukraine's existence, and is again using mass starvation as part of the violence that the House has already said constitutes genocide. Some have speculated that the Putin regime's strategy is to provoke mass starvation in African countries that depend on exports from Ukraine, and thus put pressure on Europe by using mass starvation to generate escalating migration. This underlines the limitless depravity of the Putin regime. It is spreading the impact of its violence by causing mass starvation for political purposes. Just as with the Holodomor, we are seeing the use of starvation by the Putin regime for political purposes. This already represents a widening of the conflict and, in effect, an attack by the Putin regime on these other countries that depend on Ukrainian food.
What do we do about this, recognizing the profound risks and harms that go far beyond Ukraine's borders? We need to lean in hard by giving Ukraine all the tools it needs to fight this invasion and to win, and to end the Black Sea blockade. We must urgently supply vitally needed heavy artillery to Ukraine. We must spare no expense and hold nothing back in massively upping Ukraine's access to the artillery and heavy equipment it needs to win this war. This has been the clear and repeated ask of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people: It has been for more military equipment and the heavy artillery they need. We should support them in that.
We hear often, and rightly so, about how investments in international development can help global security. I agree. It is also true that making investments in security by supporting Ukraine and doing all we can to help Ukraine win the war will save lives not just in Ukraine, but in the many other countries that rely on food from Ukraine. We need to see the use of starvation as a weapon of war as a significant escalation. It is a broadening of the attack that requires urgent action. During the Holodomor, the world failed to respond. We must not repeat this mistake.
There is much more I could say about how we can support Canadian farmers, but I hope that more people will lean in to respond to this crisis and call for stronger action from the government.
922 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 9:41:34 p.m.
- Watch
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?
117 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 9:49:44 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, what is really concerning is that we are dealing with an unprecedented situation where hunger and famine are being used as tools of war. It is really important for Parliament to be looking beyond our own backyard and how we might benefit.
I have lots of farmers in my region who could help, but we are dealing with a much larger international crisis, with Russian disinformation and war crimes. I am asking my colleagues about their willingness to put a larger frame on this. How are we going to deal with this in an age of destabilization, with the failure of globalization and the fact that the modern norms we have trusted in the international community are not helping us deal with a war criminal like Putin?
We need to have a broader, bigger picture. I am asking my colleague if can he articulate where he sees this going in an age of growing instability.
157 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 9:53:29 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, as always, it is an honour to be able to enter into debate in this place, and it takes particular relevance as we address such significant issues as global food insecurity and the role that Canada can play in solving some of these world problems.
I would like to start by sharing a few very startling facts for those who might be watching this debate. There are 181 million people globally who are at a crisis point, in terms of being food-insecure. These are people who are going hungry.
In 2021, we learned that food insecurity increased globally by 20%. In 2021, there was a 20% increase.
People are dying from food insecurity at a rate of more than one person every minute. That certainly is a number that should shock everyone who sees this.
Further to that, there are effects of this at home, in terms of the fact that Canadians are going hungry. There are some recent reports out that suggest that a growing number, up to a quarter of Canadians, cannot afford to buy food and are facing a level of food insecurity here at home.
In a very short period of time, I hope to be able to address a number of the challenges and aspects of what needs to be done. I would start by first acknowledging, as I have asked a number of questions, that food security and energy security are very tightly linked. It is absolutely essential. I know that there are some who would suggest that we can simply have this magical transition away from things like traditional oil and gas. The reality is that if we are not very careful, that will increase food insecurity at what could be an exponential rate. A very clear example, for all of the farmers who I represent and for me, being a fifth-generation farmer on our family farm, is granular fertilizer. It is made from natural gas. Energy and food security both are so tightly linked, and that has to be acknowledged in this debate.
My second point is this: we have to allow Canadians to lead, to innovate and to be able to afford to lead the world in solutions that can address issues such as increasing yields here at home and ensuring that our technology, our strategies and our practices can be exported around the world.
I would note, as my third point, the diversion of food commodities into energy. There is a troubling trend there. There is the reality that foodstuffs like wheat, corn and canola are being diverted into things like biofuels and ethanol. We have to be very aware that this could lead to individuals going hungry.
Number four concerns global supply chains. We have to acknowledge the reality of global supply chains, and the role that Canada can and should play in ensuring that we have strong global supply chains. That includes things such as having strong trading relationships, protecting supply chains, such as in the Black Sea, for example, and being able to get Ukrainian goods to market. There is wheat in Ukraine, as I have mentioned before, but it has to be able to get to market.
Five, we have to address the geopolitical reality that exists in the world and stand up to Putin and the Russian regime and the aggression that they have taken, and also address the fact that there are a whole host of geopolitical realities we are facing that are contributing to concerns surrounding global food security.
I would note that there are some issues that can be very clearly addressed. A Liberal member recently introduced a bill to ban glyphosate. It is absurd. I certainly look forward to talking more extensively about that.
We have heard members of my party talk about the carbon tax, fertilizer reduction mandates, the cost of fertilizer and the tariffs on pre-March 2 purchases, and costs in general.
My father told me here today that he filled up our Peterbilt, which is a B-train. It cost more than $1,500 after a day of work.
The fact is that we have solutions to many of the challenges that we face in terms of a higher-yield, drought-resistant crop, including incredible science in the sense of gene editing—
720 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:02:50 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I totally agree that the climate crisis and the food crisis are connected, but not in the way that I think my friend believes.
The more we ignore the urgency of the climate crisis and the more we perpetuate some role in our future for the use of fossil fuels, the more we exacerbate a growing climate crisis that drives increasing drought. It means that the U.S. prairies and Canadian prairies will face drought. South Saharan Africa will face drought. This drives more food insecurity and drives more geopolitical instability, which drives more migration.
We have to find solutions that work for all the crises we face and drive for solutions that work for them all at once. We cannot pick one over the other.
128 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:21:14 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, my dear friend from Joliette is right. The food crisis and the climate change crisis go hand-in-hand. The climate change crisis is urgent. It amplifies other threats, such as war and agricultural production problems. We are in the midst of a full-blown global crisis. We have to deal with it, and it is not easy.
60 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:22:06 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I want to thank my friend from Saanich—Gulf Islands for making the incredibly crucial link that all of this is interconnected, whether it is climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic or the conflicts around the world, not just what is happening in Ukraine. The fact is that all of these things are creating a perfect storm that is leading not just to this incredible food crisis, but to a crisis in democracy and a crisis that is having an unbelievable impact on the people of the world. I wonder if she could elaborate on that.
99 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:24:13 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I would like to continue along the same lines. The food crisis is directly linked to the climate crisis. It began before the COVID-19 pandemic, although that amplified it. It also began before the war. As a country, it is imperative that we set meaningful targets and find ways to begin a real energy transition. That means Canada has to stop approving projects like Bay du Nord, which made absolutely no sense.
Let us think of the droughts in western Canada last year, or the flooding and the fires they had in British Columbia. These were all major disasters. Things do not appear to be as bad this year, but we certainly have had excess water in Quebec. We have had far too much rainfall, an abnormal amount, I would say. Farmers cannot even dry their hay, because sooner or later a cloud comes along and it rains for 15 minutes. That is enough to spoil the whole process. The climate is unstable.
A while ago, we had very high winds. The Lanaudière farmers' union actually told me it is asking the Government of Quebec for a support program for maple syrup plantations. The damage was extremely severe, and there is concern for the safety of the landowners, who will be cleaning up all those precariously fallen trees themselves. Maple syrup plantations take more than just a couple of years to turn a profit. It is more like 20, 30 or 40 years. That is the reality. It has begun. The longer we wait to take real action, the worse it will get.
Food insecurity is happening here because of COVID‑19, the housing crisis, and rising interest rates, with inflation playing a role. People who paid too much for their homes are up to their eyeballs in debt. Some unpleasant stories will play out in the months to come. A crisis response team was put together in my riding in anticipation of the housing crisis this coming July 1, because housing is too expensive. When people pay a greater portion of their income for housing, where else can they cut spending but on groceries? People eat noodles more often, and they eat less. I hear people talk about this every week.
Just this morning, someone told me that they receive old age security and that this government is stubbornly refusing to increase it. I will digress here because I talk about this subject every chance I get. This creates food insecurity. We need to be vigilant.
I want to appeal to all members to recognize the importance of maintaining our social safety net. That is why the Bloc Québécois rises so often to protect our jurisdictions. People can say what they want, but the social safety net in Quebec is more effective than elsewhere. This means that we need our health transfers as well as an increase in old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. We have proposed easy solutions. We must ensure that we redistribute wealth equitably.
Let us now talk about the global food crisis and the war in Ukraine. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, 44 countries will need aid this year, and 53 countries will face food insecurity in one form or another. Those are big numbers. This appalling war is being carried out in such a way as to create food insecurity. It becomes clearer the more we analyze it. We are working on this issue at the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, which received Ukrainian elected officials. I have to confess that I found this extremely difficult. I would like to tip my hat to these people, who are standing guard and are showing exemplary courage.
In this war, Russia is targeting infrastructure and deliberately blocking ports. The Ukrainians are unable to export last year's crops. This year's crops are growing, but there is nowhere to store them. It is a serious problem. We absolutely need to create a safe corridor to ensure the export of grain out of Ukraine, not just for us, but for the entire world.
We have to think about food insecurity. As long as there is hunger, there will be no peace. There have already been several coups in African countries recently. This will create a lot of political instability.
I hope I am wrong, but the implications of the war in Ukraine are much greater than currently projected. At some point, someone is going to have to make a move. Exporting this grain is of capital importance.
I think that Canada is capable of helping with respect to temporary storage infrastructure, obviously located outside the combat zones so that it too is not targeted. To save the crops, they need to be moved.
Canada can also increase its contribution to the UN World Food Programme, as was mentioned earlier. It is important. The Oxfam representatives who testified at committee told us that Canada's international food aid contribution right now is half of what it was a few years ago. That is due to inflation, and we need to adjust it. We can afford to do that, and we have no right to refuse. That is something meaningful we can do.
We need to provide constructive international aid. A few weeks ago, I was in Ghana. I visited the main FAO offices for Africa, which are located in Accra. People were telling me that only 8% of international aid goes to improving agriculture because most international aid is geared to generate specific demands. A somewhat exaggerated example is that a tractor may be provided, but there is a requirement that the parts be purchased from the supplier. We need to invest in the long term, in infrastructure, while respecting local cultures. We could develop food autonomy.
I am sure it will come as no surprise when I say I am going to talk about supply management again. It is another option, something we could do that works well here. It needs to be protected, and we must stop selling it out bit by bit in the international agreements we sign. We should export the model. African countries are being flooded with cheap food surpluses from developed countries, hindering the development of local production. We should organize local farmers. In many African countries, women do the farming, but they have no bargaining power or market organization. This kind of thing costs nothing. We have the know-how, so I think we have a duty to go there.
I now want to talk about what needs to be done in this country. We must ensure that we are self-sufficient when it comes to food. I was happy to hear a lot of speeches about how we need to make life easier for our farmers. Charity begins at home. We need to give to others, but we must first ensure that we are protected. We must protect supply management.
We must not implement unnecessary restrictions, such as labelling trans fats on ground beef. It makes absolutely no sense. Ground beef is a whole food; people know what they are buying.
Taxing pollution is a good thing, but there is no point taxing grain drying, because there is no alternative and it only ends up increasing the cost of food.
We need to stay focused and be smart about what we are doing. We need to support our agricultural producers' environmental innovations. When they do something to protect the environment, that is worth money. We pay them money, we ensure that the money is at their disposal for the next innovation. We need to trust our farmers. They will not disappoint us.
We need to listen to our people. This morning I shared with the minister a letter from the UPA dated May 18, asking for emergency support because of the skyrocketing increase in input production costs. Costs have gone up by 50% compared to the consumer price index, which is around 5%. Farmers need meaningful help. Farm debt is extremely high. These farmers are currently burning through all of their cash. In a few months, we are going to start seeing businesses close down and disappear. Is that what we want? Obviously the answer is no, so we need to do something about it.
1394 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:40:06 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, last year, we spoke with the German ambassador and were told that an energy crisis in Europe was imminent. It has arrived.
Now we are seeing that the global south, in particular, will experience a food crisis. What will we do? Does Canada have a solution to improve the situation we will be facing next year?
58 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/16/22 10:40:48 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his question and for asking it in French. He made a good effort, and I congratulate him.
I understand the question. He is telling me that there is a food crisis, that there will be an energy crisis and that we must do something. We have a certain level of production at present, but we are not going to build pipelines to fix things in 10 years' time. It is happening now.
The food crisis is linked to the climate crisis, and droughts and floods are occurring right now. We must act now. I am not saying that we must shut down everything today, but we must start the transition.
Massive amounts of money are being invested, including in the Bay du Nord project. However, I believe we should invest this money in the energy transition, because there are other sources of energy. We must be forward-thinking and innovative.
157 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
