QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Advisory Council on Economic Growth
April 26, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
In 2017, the government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth, chaired by Dominic Barton, identified agriculture as a key sector for growth. The advisory council’s report set a target to grow Canada’s agri-food exports from $55 billion to at least $75 billion by 2025.
When the first report was released, the then-finance minister thanked the members of the council for their advice and said:
I look forward to continuing to work with the Council as we continue to strengthen our middle class and grow Canada’s economy . . . .
While these targets were headline news a few years ago, they seem to have fallen off the government’s radar as of late. However, I was pleased to see that agriculture was highlighted in this year’s federal budget to receive support for stable supply chains and economic growth, in addition to efforts to make the industry more sustainable.
The targets have not fallen off the industry’s radar. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture brought forward a resolution at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s annual general meeting last month regarding the need to support the implementation of initiatives outlined in the Barton report.
Honourable colleagues, as I have said time and time again, it is evident that agriculture can truly be a driver of the Canadian economy and can help us recover after the pandemic. In order to meet the ambitious Barton targets, we need to do a better job of promoting Canadian agriculture on the world stage and at home.
My question is this, Senator Gold: With only three years left to reach the 2025 targets set out in the Barton report, can you confirm whether we are on track to reach them?
Thank you, colleague, for the question.
As highlighted, the Barton report identified agriculture as one of the six sectors with growth potential, and the government agrees. I’m 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. I note, colleagues, that from the Farm Income Forecast results report for 2020 and 2021, we know that in 2020 the government managed to have $74 billion of agricultural exports in total. That’s just $1 billion short of reaching the 2025 objective — and five years in advance. With the growth in the industry, the government foresees no difficulties in reaching the target.
As I mentioned earlier, I was pleased to see agriculture and its related terms mentioned 36 times in this year’s budget. I look forward to learning more about the government’s plans to support this critical industry. Given that agriculture is indeed one of Canada’s most important industries, Senator Gold, can you commit to providing an update to this chamber on what the government is doing to help agriculture reach the targets set out in the Barton report? Thank you.
Thank you, senator, for the question. As I just mentioned, the government believes it is on track to reach the recommended target as set out in the Barton report. In the last budget, as you pointed out, the government has put in place many measures to support the agricultural sector, and that can be found in Budget 2022, which I tabled in this chamber today.
Of course, I want to remind colleagues that the minister’s mandate letter includes an obligation and mandate to help foster and strengthen the agriculture industry generally.
