Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Thank you. Absolutely. I was at the G7 about two weeks ago in Germany with my counterparts, and the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine was with us, so we had the opportunity to listen to him and understand all the challenges that they are going through in the agricultural sector, such as seeing their agricultural infrastructure, transportation and storage, for example, being attacked, some fields having mines and not having access to the ports.

What can we do? We are obviously working with the industry, and what we expect right now is to see our Canadian wheat producers produce about 7% more. You know that these decisions are often made in the fall. Our producers prepare their coming season during the fall, they buy the inputs and have some rotational patterns that they have to follow. But still, if Mother Nature is with us, we expect to have about 7% more than in a regular year to contribute and avoid a wheat shortage, particularly for those countries who need it most.

[Translation]

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Thank you.

We definitely do commit to support our grain producers and make sure that we keep this brand trusted, as Canadian food is known for being sustainable. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency allows us to have such a good reputation because our inspection system is very robust.

The Canadian Grain Commission is involved in the consultation, and I have been following this closely. There are some recommendations that will find consensus quite easily. Some of the proposals that have been brought forward do not necessarily make this consensus yet and could bring two very different business models for the commission.

It is definitely worth an in-depth analysis of the different paths that we might move forward with. This is something that I definitely care about and the department is working together with my team, obviously, because we want to find the right direction. Well, there are some paths in front of us that are quite different, so it has to be done in a very diligent manner.

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: I understand very well what you are talking about — the customs tariff of 35% being imposed on Russian fertilizer as it is included in our financial sanctions against Russia.

First, we acknowledge it was very important to make sure that this fertilizer was coming to Canada. That was the first issue. It is a matter of food security. We did what was necessary to let the boats get to the Canadian ports, and the fertilizers reach the farmers.

What we’ve also done quickly — and I’m still looking at other options with my colleagues — is a modification to the advance payment program. This program is meant to support grain producers and horticultural — fruit and vegetable — producers to have access to an interest-free loan of up to $100,000; it could go up to a loan of $1 million.

Normally, they can get this loan in two payments, one in April, more or less, and one in July when they confirm what they have really planted, based on the revenue they expect for the coming fall. So we have allowed them to get 100% of this loan as soon as they submitted their request. So that was a quick change that has been made to a program. I’m still looking at different options with my colleagues.

[Translation]

Hon. Éric Forest: Thank you for being with us today, minister.

With respect to land occupancy, one of the important steps is to ensure the continuity of family farms. This is an important issue as our farmers are facing many economic pressures. The average age of farmers continues to rise, and less than two thirds of them have a designated successor.

For many years, our tax rules have penalized those who want to transfer their business to a family member. It is more profitable for them to sell the business to a stranger or to simply close down, which undermines land occupancy.

We have known about this problem for a long time. The Prime Minister had asked you to resolve this issue in your previous mandate letter.

Last June, the Senate and the House of Commons passed Bill C-208 to correct this inequity. However, nothing has happened since then. Bill C-208 still has not been implemented. Budget 2022 only proposes a consultation process, even though this issue has been studied for several years.

How do you explain that, 12 months after Bill C-208 was passed, this legislation still has not been applied or come into force?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Our family farms are at the heart of the agricultural sector and land occupancy. I could not agree with you more.

Bill C-208 has been passed and is in force. People can now transfer or sell their business to a stranger or a family member under similar conditions.

I assume that the honourable senator is referring to our announcement that we want to clarify the definition of intergenerational transfer and we therefore plan to introduce a second bill.

I want to reassure people that if they are in a situation where they are making a true intergenerational transfer and are transferring their farm to family members, there is nothing to worry about. However, officials at the finance department have found that there were some abuses in the past with older legislation. We need to clarify what an intergenerational transfer is, so that this business transfer is not used as a simple tax evasion tool.

[English]

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: We have a range of business risk management programs, mainly four. We have crop insurance, and I am in discussion with the provinces because, once again, these programs are cost-shared and often managed by the provinces. A discussion is happening with the provinces in terms of the delay.

There is AgriStability, for example, another business risk management program besides crop insurance. It will kick in if a producer sees a significant decrease in their margins. There is also AgriRecovery that a province would start if a situation — often a weather event — creates exceptional costs for a sector or for a region, for example. This applied last year because of the drought in the Prairies and in Ontario and because of the floods in B.C. The AgriRecovery program worked quite well. The collaboration with the provinces was good, and we were able to make these programs work quickly when we were faced with those situations.

These are two of the programs that could be used if the situation doesn’t get better.

[Translation]

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: Thank you. Sometimes it is when we face adversity that we become more innovative. I am so proud that the industry has risen to the challenge and invested in important processing facilities. I would say at the end of the day, it is the industry and the business people who will make the decision. I am quite confident that they see their interest in value-added.

Actually, last week, once again in Saskatchewan, I was visiting oil seed processing facilities, let’s say, and it gives a lot of hope in the development of this sector — one senator was talking about the vegetable proteins. I think there is a lot of potential out of this, investing through the Innovation Superclusters Initiative. This initiative is allowing innovation to take place, and we are at a stage of commercializing some of these innovations.

It is a sector in which we see a lot of potential. I would say that Canada is a leader in the protein industry right now.