The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food
The Next Agricultural Policy Framework Report
CPC Dissenting Report
What is the future of farming in Canada and what
level of government involvement is necessary? These are the questions for the Liberal
government to keep in mind as it negotiates a new Agricultural Policy Framework
(APF) with the provinces.
Throughout our hearings we heard some
consistent themes – that there is a bright future for Canadian agriculture,
that in many areas we are world leaders in agriculture and that we need to get
products to market that consumers and customers can have confidence in.
There is a growing demand for food. By 2050,
global demand is expected to rise by 70 percent. We are told that the world
will need to produce as much food in the next 45 years as in the previous
10,000. (Unleashing the growth of key sectors, Advisory Council on Economic
Growth).
The sheer diversity of agriculture in this
country is astounding. At the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and
Agri-Food hearings we were constantly reminded of the incredible diversity of
opportunities and needs inherent in Canadian agriculture. What will the new APF
look like? With no defined fiscal commitment and with new pillars being added
to the APF, can this government create programs that will work for producers
across the spectrum?
A critical challenge for Canadian agriculture
is to communicate accurately with a Canadian public that is increasingly disconnected
from their food production and increasingly susceptible to misinformation about
agriculture and food. Canadian agriculture is a world leader both in producing
healthy food and in technological development. Producers have a great story for
the public - we are growing and eating and drinking the best food in the world.
Our food safety system is a model for other
countries. Public education, including educating the educators, needs to be a
deliberate and ongoing component of Canadian agriculture.
Agricultural success in Canada depends on trade.
The vast majority of agriculture in Canada must export. International trade
deals always find agriculture playing a major role in negotiations. The
challenge of balancing Canadian agricultural interests is a huge one. Varying
expectations, strong positions held by various agricultural interests, and the
notion that any good trade deal will result in markets both being opened and
closed keep our negotiators on their toes. The recent approval of the
Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
was critical for Canadian export trade. The future of Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP) is unknown but a successful conclusion of it will open opportunities in a
vast, and growing, consumer market. Canadian farm products are needed around
the world. High quality premium products are in ever increasing demand in
countries whose food habits are changing as their economies develop. We have
the opportunity to meet those expectations.
Producers make agriculture work. The role of
government should be to smooth the path to success. Allowing producers to
produce, giving them the freedom to market, where necessary creating efficient
and transparent regulatory structures and then getting out of the way – that’s
the role of government. Canadian producers are the best in the world – let’s
let them do their work.
We are thankful for the many who have taken
time to be witnesses, to share the important aspects of their segment of agriculture.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
PROGRAM FUNDING
- That the government make it the
highest priority to have a seamless and timely transition from Growing Forward
2 to APF3 in order to protect producers and processors.
- That there be a review of the Business
Risk Management (BRM) program payment processes to make them more efficient and
to simplify and standardize application procedures.
- That the government be
transparent in it’s funding of agriculture programming so that producers can
see where the money is being spent and can ensure that they are not
disadvantaged by the government having doubled the number of priority areas
that form the APF pillars.
- That departments involved in the
food production system be given a specific mandate to work together to ensure
the growth and prosperity of the agriculture sector. This includes providing
relevant information about market needs and product development.
- That departments involved in
trade be given a specific mandate to work together to enable Canada to best
profit from the projected increases in food demand.
- That departments involved in
transportation be given a specific mandate to work together to enable Canada to
best transport it’s product to market.
PROGRAM OPERATION
- That serious effort be put into
streamlining program application processes and that the provinces and federal
government have a standardized application process within two years.
- That the government establish an
industry led Committee to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of the suite of
programs on an ongoing basis.
- That the government review the
contribution rate for the AgriInvest program in order to make it a larger
component of the BRM package and that farmers be allowed to remove their own
money on preapproved investments.
- That the government review the
role of AgriStabliity to determine the most effective use of the program money,
including an examination of the program’s flexibility, it’s response to new
farmers, its administrative complexity and the present caps on payments.
- That AgriInsurance be continued
as a cost share program but that the government examine the capacity of the
program to more broadly provide an insurance program for animal insurance.
- That AgriRecovery consider
covering multi-year impacts of disaster events.
- That AgriRisk continue to provide
financial support to the private sector to enable it to develop private risk
management tools with the purpose of reducing producers’ reliance on taxpayers.
Within AgriRisk, that the government work
with provinces to explore with the possibility of making the Western Livestock
Price Insurance Program permanent and national. Recommend that AgriRisk explore the
development of new initiatives to mitigate the risks of margin calls for pork
producers.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
- That inter-provincial trade restrictions
be examined and that government work with the provinces to lessen those
restrictions.
- That the government identify
priority markets for Canadian agriculture products and use the resources of
Global Affairs and International Development to assist with the development of
those markets.
- That a clear strategy be
developed that will highlight internationally the high quality and food safety
of Canadian agriculture products.
- That an agriculture agreement
with Japan be prioritized so that Canadian farmers have increased access to
Japanese markets.That the government educate the
network of Canadian representatives abroad – including Embassy personnel – so
that agriculture opportunities are identified and relayed to the agriculture
sector.
TRADE
- That the government address the
issues of Maximum residue Levels with our competitors.
RESEARCH AND SCIENCE
- That science clusters are
maintained under the new Policy Framework.
- That the government continue to
partner with provinces to fund innovation and new technology development.
- That the government partner with
the private sector as much as possible.
- That there be stable funding for
research but also a plan to take new innovation/research to a commercial
conclusion.
- That the government show a
willingness to alter the cost share ratio for funding so that smaller
organizations can participate as partners.
- That private investment is
encouraged in food processing through tax policy that makes Canadian industry
more competitive, especially in areas of investment and the integration of new
technology.
- That the Government examine and
address the elements of the food processing sector where government policy has limited
productivity and competitiveness.
- That the government provide
funding for the next review of the Organic Standards.
ENVIRONMENT
- That the government recognize the
industry’s environmental efforts in the development of new policy and programs.
- That all environmental decisions
be based on adequate science conducted without prescribed conclusions.
- That the government fund
educational materials that demonstrate the incredible change in farming
practices that has taken place in the last 30 years and highlight improvements
in water usage, pesticide management and environmental practices.
- That any money spent on ‘public
trust’ rely on accurate information and real evidence.
- That the attitude towards
producers regarding the environment be reversed – that the government listen to
the experts who live on the land and tailor programs to them rather than limiting
producer involvement and ignoring local concerns.
- Given agriculture’s contribution
to essential food production and its incredible improvement in environmental
practices, that no carbon taxes be imposed on agriculture.
- That a full cost impact analysis
of the governments’ environmental tax proposals be carried out prior to any
implementation and that any related increases to production costs be made known
to producers.
That environmental taxes not put our
producers at a competitive disadvantage.
- That the government recognize the
value of carbon sinks and carbon sequestration, best management practices and
that that the government allow locals to control the funding and research goals
of projects in their area.
- That the government establish
community based, community directed environmental programming for rural
communities.
- That a condition of wetlands
protection projects be that they not impact adjacent private lands.
- That the government consider tax
friendly policies that would encourage the reclamation and recycling of
agricultural waste.
- That Environmental Farm Plans are
industry led and government supported and leave control of land and production
with producer.
- That Environmental Farm Plans be
expanded to include the management of non-productive land and of land that is
not being used for direct production.
- That all foreign government
funding for environmental programs be reported in a transparent way.
- That the government support private
and public awareness campaigns to educate the Canadian public and to teach them
about the positive contribution made by the agriculture industry to
environment.
- That government promote the
development of public awareness activities grounded in solid science and include
Quality Assurance programs.
- That government work with the
many components of the agriculture industry to develop voluntary best practice
assurance and certification programs.
LABOUR
- That labour be added to the APF
pillars as this was identified as an industry wide issue.
- That the shortage of agriculture
workers be treated as an emergency and a responsible approach be developed as
soon as possible.
- That a ‘trusted worker’, ‘trusted
employer’ program be developed for returning foreign workers
- That Manufacturing be included in
the Temporary Foreign Worker program.
- That the government adopt the Canadian
Young Farmers’ Forum (CYFF) request and recognize in kind contributions from
industry.
TAX POLICY
- That government examine tax
policy to make it easier to transfer farm land to genuine farmers and to family
members.
- That government examine tax
policy to make it attractive to sellers to privately finance purchasers over
time and that it explore the idea of land trusts as an option.
- That government raise the Capital
Gains Exemption to $2 million.