SoVote

Jun/16/22 6:57:15 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as I stated, the grain is not allowed to leave the ports because of Vladimir Putin's war. His choice right now not to allow it to leave is creating a significant problem. We are working with our European partners and looking at how we can get the grain out, but even by using alternative methods, we would not be able to get enough out. We need to get the ports open. I know there is active work taking place. I was talking to David Beasley, the head of the World Food Programme. I know that the Secretary-General of the UN is also in negotiations and that work continues. I would like to say I am hopeful, but I will be honest that from what we have seen from Vladimir Putin, we cannot count on that. We will continue to work as hard as we can. We are also looking at temporary grain storage and what support we can provide so that we can have that storage. That way the new harvest can also be stored so that when the grain can come out, we can eventually get it out. We are looking at all options.

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Context: House Hansard - 90 - Jun/16/22

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie

Jun/16/22 7:39:38 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is a very good question. In the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, recommended that developing countries that were struggling—the ones with subsistence agriculture that were struggling to feed their people—specialize in growing cotton, for example. They were telling these countries that they would be able to export it, generate revenue and then import their food. At the same time, the rich countries that properly support their agricultural industries set up aid programs for these countries. When the harvest was good, the rich countries helped them by giving them their surplus crops or selling those crops to them at a low cost. All of this led to the collapse of local agriculture in developing countries, because they were obviously not able to compete with the rich countries' donations in good years. International institutions encouraged countries to move away from this sector and specialize in export sectors. As a result, these countries have had their subsistence agriculture dismantled. When the harvest was bad, they did not receive any aid from rich countries. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank told everyone to grow cotton, so many countries grew cotton. Large corporations were the ones leading it, and the price of cotton collapsed. The do-gooders in rich countries and international institutions thought they were fighting poverty, but they actually made it worse. Who are we to tell those countries what to do? They knew how to go about it. In order to receive international aid, they had to listen to the rich countries, and this made the situation worse. We have to think about that.

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Context: House Hansard - 90 - Jun/16/22

Mr. Richard Lehoux (Beauce, CPC)

Jun/16/22 10:34:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech. He talked about support for getting grain out of Ukraine at this time. If we want to see short-term results, we have to look at that. Does my colleague have a sense of what the government has done? Last week, when Ukraine's agriculture minister was with us, she said she needs urgent help clearing mines from fields. The fields were seeded this spring, but there will be no harvest this fall because farmers are too afraid of setting off mines to go into their fields. Has my colleague heard anything from the government about plans to do anything about that? Everybody is desperate.

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