It’s in the mandate letter he handed to returning Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
There is a concerted lobby against horse slaughter and exports, mainly to Japan. The opponents routinely ask for Freedom-of-Information release of Canadian Food Inspection Agency documents about horse exports.
There is no mention of horse slaughter which is curtailed in the United States, so many of their horses come to Canadian plants in Quebec and Alberta.
Another item on Bibeau’s agenda is a repeat asking for reforms to Business Risk Management programs. Bibeau promised $750 million last year to both increase the percentage of coverage farmers could claim and to retroactively open applications.
That was strongly supported by former Ontario Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman and a number of key Ontario commodity groups, such as Grain Farmers of Ontario.
But the Prairie agriculture ministers balked, apparently because they felt the cost-shared program would cost them too much. And then came the devastating drought on the Prairies.
Trudeau wants Bibeau to make the industry more resilient – a response to COVID-19 , to be cognizant of indigenous community rights and gender equity and to address climate change with green agriculture initiatives.
He put a high priority on addressing the labour shortage.
That will involve a multi-pronged approach, Bibeau has indicated, including reforms to the Temporary Foreign Workers program to enable trusted participants to be fast-tracked and opening the door for workers to gain immigrant status.
Bibeau said she also wants to do something to encourage Canadians to take jobs in the agriculture and food industry and to further mechanize and automate so fewer workers will be needed.
Other points in the letter are:
- Continue to protect supply-managed agricultural sectors, our family farms and the vitality of our rural areas, working with supply-managed sectors to provide full and fair compensation with respect to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and making this determination within the first year of our mandate. You will be supported in this work by the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development.
- In support of A Food Policy for Canada, continue to strengthen Canada’s food system by:
Working with the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and to work toward a national school nutritious meal program; and
Creating a No-Waste Food Fund to help all players along the food supply chain to commercialize and adopt ways to eliminate, reduce or repurpose food waste.
- Support the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and secure supply chains.
- Support food producers who choose alternative pest management approaches that reduce the need for chemical pesticides.
- Continue to explore next steps to modernize the Canada Grain Act and ensure it meets the needs of the sector now and in the future.
- Support the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to establish a Canada Water Agency and implement a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan, including a historic investment to provide funding to protect and restore large lakes and river systems, starting with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System, Lake Simcoe, the Lake Winnipeg Basin, the Fraser River Basin and the Mackenzie River Basin. Invest in the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario to support international freshwater science and research.
