Speech

Minister Chuck Strahl's Speech, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Ottawa, Ontario
March 2, 2006.

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Canadian Wheat Board): Well, thank you very much, Bob, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a pleasure to be here at your convention and to say a few words and I do look forward to the Q&A period afterward, which I think is going to be key with the issues that we want to talk about. I'll give a high level view first and then I look forward to your questions and comments where we can get into some of the nitty-gritty afterwards.

As Bob has already mentioned, we've had several opportunities to get together and to talk about issues of concern and opportunities for Canadian farmers and I look forward to meeting with the executive and your membership as time goes on and talking about how we can best move this sector forward.

I want to begin by congratulating CFA on celebrating 70 years of serving farmers and the Canadian agriculture sector. There's no doubt that this organization is a highly respected voice for Canadian farmers here in Ottawa, and across the country. I certainly look forward to working with Bob and your team, your executive and the rest of you as we positively address the major issues that are on the table.

In a certain sense, I see my role as the minister and the role of stakeholder groups like the CFA as a key partnership of working hand in hand, together. We're both mandated to serve the Canadian producer and the interests of the Canadian agriculture and the agri-food sector and we can do it best by working together.

As some of you know, I live on a hobby farm in the Fraser Valley, where we have a few white faces kicking around and we have a fair bit of agriculture in the riding, but I tell people that I realize it doesn't make me an expert on agriculture. But I have been telling people that, you know, I have shovelled my share, and I'm not just talking about politically either.

But more to the point, our Conservative government brings a lot of bench strength to agriculture. I'd say it's the strongest agricultural caucus that's been in this town for quite some time. There's over 20 MPs on our side who are active farmers. Many others, of course, from other parties as well. And two of them, Jacques Gourde and David Anderson, will be with me as parliamentary secretaries, working on issues related to agriculture.

I want to start by saying I enjoy getting into the details of this. Of course, I love my briefing books, but the one thing I don't need a briefing book on is to know that farmers and food producers are absolutely critical and essential to the well-being and prosperity of Canada.

Prime Minister Harper talked throughout the campaign about creating opportunities, about rewarding hard work and innovation and there isn't a sector in the Canadian economy that works harder or is more willing to innovate than farmers and the agri-food industry. And we, as a government, will work with you to help you grow your income and succeed in tightly competitive markets.

As for my job description as a minister, I believe it is clear - to champion you and the interests of Canada - at home and abroad. And that is what I am going to do. I'm not heading into the WTO negotiations, for example, worried about the Americans or what the Americans or the Europeans might think of our position. I'll be there to represent Canada's interests and your interests, at every step and at every opportunity.

And it is a great industry, isn't it, to talk about, to defend, to brag about, to promote. Canadian farmers are amongst the most efficient producers in the world. Productivity has continued to rise despite an increasingly difficult economic situation over the past few decades.

Our productivity far exceeds other sectors in the economy and has done so for decades. The sector is innovative, is adaptive, is able to constantly evolve to meet the needs of consumers, and that is why Canadian agri-food products are known and respected throughout Canada and around the world.

In fact, farmers have been increasingly productive even as they face a formidable series of challenges - declining commodity prices, the stronger Canadian dollar, unfair trade practices by our international competitors, bad weather, disease, and so on.

But through it all, again farmers continue to work just as hard, and I want you to know that I want to work just as hard with you to represent your interests at the cabinet table, at budget discussions, in Geneva, in Washington, in Mexico City and elsewhere because our government is determined to ensure that farmers get their due.

Now, getting their due has been a problem for farmers.

There are some pretty serious problems out there, as Bob has already mentioned. It is no secret to you folks. The Farm Income Forecast for 2005 and 2006 calendar years released in January shows that we can expect net cash income to decline by 16 per cent in 2006 due mainly to lower program payments and higher operating expenses. Realized net income, which takes depreciation into account, is also expected to decline.

A report by a University of Saskatchewan professor last week also pointed out continuing income challenges, and his report especially focused on Western producers.

Those are sobering numbers. But it's not just about numbers, the statistics and the cash flow projections. When a farmer is in trouble, he or she isn't simply in danger of losing a business, they're also in danger of losing a home.

Now, I've been an Agriculture Minister for only a few weeks now, but I've heard the numbers, I've met with many farmers and I've started to put together an aggressive plan for the next few weeks and a short-term plan to try to move things forward.

We have already taken some action. We've accelerated the payout of the grains and oilseeds Payout Program, the $755 million that we promised during the campaign, so that almost all of that money will get out to producers more quickly, more will get out and it will get out quicker. According to the latest numbers I have, current up to Monday, there's been 47,000 payments sent out to producers totalling about $251 million, producing cheques, cutting those additional payments of about 20,000 per week, which is as much as we can put through the system.

I spoke earlier about the need to work together. I've been busy doing that. Over the past couple of weeks, I've spoken with all of the provincial Ag ministers and met personally for discussions with seven of them. I expect to meet with the rest of them within the next couple of weeks and I'm holding my first formal federal/provincial/territorial meeting on March 20th in British Columbia and I certainly look forward to what I think is going to be a good relationship with the provinces and a necessary one as we work together to develop policies for the future.

I've also had discussions on the international scene with Secretary Johanns of the United States and Secretary Mayorga from Mexico, our two most important agricultural partners to do a kind of a quick consultation with these people and to set the scene for more intensive work on the priorities of the ag industry.

With both secretaries, by the way, I received good support for completing the final steps necessary to fully re-open the North American border to beef and live cattle trade, based on science, and I hope that can happen very soon.

I've also made it a priority to sit down with producers in each of the provinces I've visited and with many of the leading farm organizations in the different regions and across the country.

On the trade issue specifically, I've asked the leading industry representatives to come together in Ottawa later this month, on March 14, for a roundtable discussion with me and with Trade Minister Emerson to discuss the World Trade Organization agricultural negotiations.

On a whole range of issues important for Canadian agriculture, I've been consulting closely with my cabinet colleagues, the ministers of Environment, Health, Transport and Industry because finding solutions will require all of us working together as a team to make things happen positively.

Clearly, agriculture is one of those sectors that is multi-jurisdictional and if I could add, if it's a word, multi-ministerial. You can't just touch one part of it without including cabinet colleagues and other players in the field. It's not a sector where unilateral action is well received. It requires all of us, at the federal and provincial levels, to work together with ag partners to find solutions to move forward.

I don't pretend this is long-term stuff that I'm doing right now. This is an immediate and quick consultative process with farmers, industry and political leadership across the country. Before the House of Commons resumes on April 3rd, I would hope to have met with all of those sectors in a meaningful way and to have their input on how we should move forward on whether we call it APF two or a long-term vision for the agricultural sector.

Looking a bit further out, from this immediate consultation, the government is also committed to replacing CAIS with distinct programs for agricultural income stabilization and disaster assistance. We are planning an income stabilization program that is simpler and more appropriate to producers' needs and I will be working with the provinces and the territories and seeking input from producers to develop the best way forward.

In the meantime though, CAIS will continue to function for the 2006 crop year. I don't want to leave you with any uncertainty about this. As well, we will proceed with changes to the administration of the CAIS program, as was agreed last year among federal-provincial-territorial ministers. It's simply not possible, nor in farmers' best interests to scrap CAIS without a proper replacement that's been agreed to by all of us.

And as we've talked about in the campaign, we plan to add another $500 million annually to the agricultural budget and I've been developing proposals with my cabinet colleagues on how to proceed with this. Key to these discussions will be to address key challenges facing the industry and most importantly, how to improve profitability long term. I've been working with the Minister of Finance to secure funding for these initiatives and as I mentioned, the $500 million per year over the next five years is our campaign commitment.

During the campaign, we also talked about other ideas that will help the economy generally but will also help farmers specifically in the time to come. We talked about the green crop cover program. We're committed to cutting the GST and reducing the small business tax rate, which is going to save you money and bring you some relief.

Our commitment to improve infrastructure across the country, improve roads, port facilities, border crossings, again will help producers get their products to market. We're also working to improve our trading relations with the United States. It's a key part of opening the borders and keeping them open in the future.

In the medium and longer term, we're going to develop programs that provide new market opportunities for farmers and expand existing ones.

Our government is developing plans on how to deliver on our commitment to require an average of five-per-cent renewable fuel content in all Canadian fuel by 2010. That is going to create demand for millions of additional bushels of grain each year, and oil seeds.

We also have to get action on the international front. As I said, I'm working closely with Minister Emerson on the WTO negotiations and we are absolutely committed to lowering the international trade barriers and unfair trade-distorting domestic subsidies of our international competitors

There has to be structural change in the international trade rules around agricultural trade. It is only under such a system of rules that Canada's agricultural producers will be able to get a fair price and fair access to markets around the world. We will vigorously pursue reduction of international trade barriers and tariffs and we will seek to enhance export opportunities for all agricultural products.

We are committed to defending the interests of all producers. And I'd like to stress that the new government and I fully support the interests of supply managed sectors of our agriculture. We recognize that Canada's supply managed sectors will continue to face pressure on key issues at the WTO.

At the same time, this government will continue to defend the ability of Canadian producers to choose how they put their products on the market, so they continue to provide the safest and best quality products for Canadians while receiving a fair return for their hard work and investment.

We want to achieve an outcome at the WTO which benefits all of Canadian agriculture.

So these are some of the themes that we are working on in the short and kind of the medium term. And I really believe that by working together, it is possible to develop programs, policies, international agreements that benefit the entire agriculture and agri-food sector.

The term "tripartite" has been used to describe the best approach to move the sector forward. That is, the industry, farmers, federal and provincial governments working together collaboratively.

Now, I got a chance to look through your proposals here, draft farm bill, for example, for the development of a new strategic framework, and I certainly agree with many of the ideas espoused in the document.

You say the new Agriculture Policy Framework must empower primary producers with the ability to achieve sustainable incomes from the marketplace, that Canada cannot build the agri-food sector at the expense of primary producers.

And I agree with you. It is fundamental that primary producers have the ability to be profitable. And by developing the tools that allow producers to achieve stronger incomes from the marketplace, we will also contribute to the economic development of our rural communities, which is another concern that our government has.

Your document also talks about research and innovation and how that is a key part of generating growth. I absolutely agree with that. I find consensus from the provinces on this as well. It is an area of opportunity that I really look forward to exploring together and developing properly.

I am impressed by the way that you have woven together the pillars of your document, recognizing and understanding that specific programs must interact so that as a whole, they work for the entire industry.

So I certainly appreciate the work that's already been done here by this organization in producing this document and I'm looking forward to working with you and others to find the right way forward into the future.

This working together underscores what I was talking about earlier, the necessity of collaboration of those of us in the agriculture and agri-food industry with each other, as well as with relevant ministries and industries that are not part of my portfolio but who have an impact on it and have a stake in our future success.

As we move forward towards the implementation of APF-2, or son of APF or whatever it is we're going to call it, there's no question that issues like business risk management, strategic growth, strategies, science and innovation and market development and others identified in your proposal will be front-and-centre as we lay the groundwork for the next generation of ag policies and programs.

Let me add also that that teamwork approach that I hope to bring to this portfolio is also extended to the role of government itself. Both in the House and on the Senate side, there are some very dedicated people in committees, farmers, people who support our agricultural industries, who want to bring their best ideas and wisdom and experience to the table. I want to listen to them, I promise to do that, I want to engage them, I want to find a consensus on how we move forward and I want our industry to benefit from the diversity of their views and knowledge, which is clearly a benefit to everyone in this room. That's something I value and it's something I look forward to.

I believe it's important, whenever possible, for those of us in the agri-food sector to express our concerns in terms of opportunities and I say that because in the political world, if all you're talking about is the problems, and if all you ever have to bring forward are problems, pretty soon, people find excuses to not sit down with you and meetings get cancelled and people find other ways and other things to do.

If you present it in terms of opportunities, which I think farmers are always looking for opportunities, people immediately gather around and say, well, let's talk about it. Let's figure out a way forward. It's an opportunity. I'm in.

So we have to create opportunities, if you will, that will allow our farmers to have sustainable long-term prosperity. Creating the opportunities that permit the agriculture sector to be competitive on the world stage is critical because that's critical not only for you, it's critical for the Canadian economy.

Now, don't forget and I'm sure you won't either, and you probably won't let me forget, eight per cent of the gross domestic product comes from the agriculture and agri-food industry and that one in eight jobs in Canada is related to the sector. It's hugely important and it's the backbone of the Canadian economy.

One of the real positives we have in these opportunities is that Canada's agri-food sector has a number of key competitive advantages, proximity to markets, our science and research capabilities, and so on, that can be developed to generate new and expanded market opportunities.

There are tremendous sales opportunities out there, and increasingly, international consumers are demanding the kind of value-added and quality products that we produce.

I mentioned earlier our government's commitment to require all fuel in Canada to contain a five-per-cent renewable fuel content, such as ethanol and bio-diesel.

This again will potentially increase sales and opportunities for farmers.

Well, let me be very clear on the bio-diesel and ethanol front. The Government of Canada will be a stakeholder in the development of this exciting industry and we will make sure that our primary producers get a share of the potential profits from it.

Farmers deserve a decent return on their investment and the Government of Canada will insist that when it comes to bio-diesel and ethanol production, farmers are going to profit from an environmentally sensitive alternative grown right here in Canada.

So, in conclusion - and Bob says, those are sweet words, I'm sure, in conclusion, we have a lot on our plate. We have a lot of challenges to work on, but we have a lot of opportunities to explore together.

As I said, it will be a critical year for the Doha Round negotiations. Here at home, we have the Parliament opening on April 3, a speech from the throne, a federal budget right after that. And before we even get in to the opening of Parliament, we have a federal-provincial ag ministers meeting and an industry roundtable in the next couple of weeks.

And before I open to questions, I just want to reiterate the importance that I feel that the agri-food business, farmers' agri-food business brings to Canada. A strong and vibrant farm sector that provides security of income for farm families and a strong economic foundation for rural communities will in turn provide the security of food supply for Canadians and for others around the world.

It is vital to Canada's economic future. This country's farmers are world leaders in the efficient production of high-quality agricultural and food products. They deserve our support, you deserve our support in helping to make sure the industry has a viable and sustainable future.

I aim to work to ensure that this happens.

I want to thank you again for the work that you do day by day around the country in this important industry. I also want to thank you here, at the CFA, for the work that you do representing farmers and helping, I believe, create opportunities for them.

I look forward to working with Bob and your executive and the rest of you, and meeting many of you across the country as we move forward on this.

Now, just before I take some questions, I think it's important probably that I just mention the avian flu situation, and particularly in France. As you probably know, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency implemented import restrictions upon confirmation last week of avian influenza outbreak on a turkey farm in France. We've suspended imports of live birds and bird products from France because that's the international agreement that we're following through on.

It has been reported that eight Quebec farms who have imported chicks and hatcheries are under quarantine, but of course, that is the standard 30-day quarantine which is generally applied to all animal imports.

That has been standard practice for decades as an extra precaution, the CFIA is monitoring the health status of these birds on a daily basis and they are being tested. Preliminary tests have come back negative. Of course, it's what we expected. Again, I just want to assure people and assure the media and others that the CFIA is doing their job, that this is a routine quarantine that takes place for all imported products. We're confident that the science-based method that we have of dealing with a situation like this had been followed accurately and of course that Canadian food is completely safe and I thank the CFIA for their quick action and ongoing action to make sure that our reputation here and around the world is maintained.

I thought I'd say that for the record.

Thank you very much, and I'm open for questions.