Hon. Peter Harder: Welcome, minister. I’ll follow up on a question asked by my colleague Senator Loffreda with respect to global food shortages as a result of events in Ukraine.

It’s not just wheat, but also canola, barley, sunflower oil and a vast array of grains that are in turbulence in the global market. As you well know, food prices have shot up. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization suggests that we’re at the highest levels of food costs since the index was created, and it is rising by over 10% a month. That’s very disturbing not only for Canadian consumers, obviously, but I am particularly worried about the impact in the less developed world. You will know the dependency on foodstuffs and grains from Ukraine is very significant, particularly in some portions of Africa.

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Could you report to us what work you are doing with other departments, and in particular your former department of International Development, to balance increased exports and to fill the gaps that are necessary for the well-being of the least fortunate?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: As you know, the Canada Water Agency is under the leadership of my colleague the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. I am working closely on that issue as well, particularly because the agricultural sector has a significant interest in it. A large part of the mandate of the agency would be related to irrigation and water management for agriculture. As you said so well, it has an impact on our food security and on sustainable agriculture, particularly considering last year’s drought in one part of the country and floods in another.

Canada is blessed in having 20% of the world’s fresh water, so we recognize that we have to put that strategy in place. We also have to bring all the experts from different departments together — all those who are working one way or another around the water resource — under this agency. In the last budget, you’ve seen $43.5 million over five years that we will be investing in this. The work is in progress. We are still in consultations, so it is a bit too soon for me to give clearer direction on this.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Minister Bibeau, business risk management programs are critical for farmers, and given the rising costs of production, farmers are bearing more risk this year than ever before. It seems as though your government has no intention to make these programs more timely, predictable or bankable. Instead you’re threatening to reduce access to farmers if they don’t comply with certain practices that your government thinks they should, without even consulting the industry. As we know, your government announced plans to cut GHG emissions from fertilizer use on farms by 30% without consulting the provinces, the agricultural sector or stakeholders.

Minister, why are you more focused on limiting access to the business risk management programs than actually improving them?

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Welcome to the Senate of Canada, Minister Bibeau. In addition to the need for temporary labour, there is also the issue of land use and occupancy. Not only do agricultural areas need seasonal workers, but they also need new residents to take over farms, ensure a younger demographic and justify keeping schools open. There is a need for permanent and not just temporary immigration. What could the minister do, together with the provinces, to increase the number of permanent immigrants in Canada’s agricultural sector and to make it easier for them to come to Canada?

Hon. Robert Black: Thank you, minister, for joining us here today.

I would like to request an update on the Barton report targets as they relate to the domestic agricultural industry. As you may know, I have asked our Government Representative in the Senate to confirm whether Canada is on track to meet the Barton report targets.

In his response, my honourable colleague highlighted that he was:

. . . advised that the recommendation to reach $75 billion in agricultural exports by 2025 is a target that the government is striving towards and, indeed, has internalized.

That being said, he also highlighted that we are about $1 billion short of reaching those export targets.

However, a recent post made by The Grower, which announced Canada Agriculture Day for 2023, highlighted that Canada earned $82 billion in exports in 2021, which is $7 billion more than the 2025 target.

Minister, could you clarify whether Canada has indeed met the Barton report targets regarding agricultural exports? Thank you.

Hon. Robert Black: Minister, I recently met with agricultural industry stakeholders to discuss the Canada Grain Act review process. They highlighted that this review is an important step forward, and I shared that in a letter to you earlier in May.

The What We Heard Report document produced from the government’s consultations also highlights that this process was a half-century in the making, since the last comprehensive amendment took place in 1971. In fact, it is especially important given how dramatically the nature of grain delivery by farmers has changed.

Stakeholders shared their perspective that the review process should move away from an industry-versus-government regulatory scenario, and instead focus on how to support the value chain and ensure Canada’s place as a superpower in the global grain sector, especially in light of the war in Ukraine, which is impacting food security around the world.

Minister, will the government commit to supporting Canadian grain through policy and practice to ensure that Canadian grain remains a trusted brand and solidifies our position as an efficient supplier for the global community?

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food: I completely agree. The labour shortage is very difficult, especially for the regions. We have been able to implement specific programs to make it easier and faster for temporary agricultural workers to get permanent resident status, particularly in the Atlantic region. This pilot program has become a popular and permanent program in Atlantic Canada.

There is also a program in Ontario specifically designed for workers in the processing, greenhouse and mushroom industries, and it works well. There is still room for more participation. I would have hoped that such a program could have been created in Quebec, but the situation is different, since the provincial government makes the decisions about economic immigration. It was, however, something we were asked to do.

In my mandate letter, the Prime Minister asked me to develop an agricultural labour strategy. This all obviously requires improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Investments also need to be made in employment or internship programs for young people to get them interested in the agricultural sector. This sector is not limited to farm work; it also relies on new technologies and science, for example.

The Minister of Finance’s mandate letter also includes tax incentives to keep seniors working longer. By investing in child care services, we are trying to bring workers back to the workplace and to the regions. I come from a region, the Eastern Townships, and housing, which is a problem everywhere, is known to be associated with the labour shortage. As you know, the government is investing billions of dollars through the National Housing Strategy. Our strategy is quite broad, when it comes to labour.

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Hon. Denise Batters: Minister, at a time of war, pandemic and global food crisis in which food security is paramount, this Trudeau government continues to throw roadblocks in the path of Canadian agricultural producers who are trying to help solve those problems. Supply shortages and dry conditions, combined with out-of-control Liberal spending and crushing inflation, mean increases in the cost of everything, including farm input costs. All this Trudeau government delivers are a huge tariff to spike already high fertilizer costs and a skyrocketing carbon tax with a so-called rebate that returns agricultural producers only pennies on the dollar. Farmers in my province of Saskatchewan are having serious concerns about whether to even put crops in the ground in what should be the bread basket of the world.

When will your government get out of the way, exempt agricultural producers from your punishing carbon tax and let our Canadian farmers feed the world?

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.

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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.

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