QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
AgriStability
December 3, 2020
Honourable senators, I do hope that firefighters will be part of the list of first responders. They are often the very first to be there.
My question, leader, is concerning cattle and hog producers in my province of B.C. I am a city gal by birth, but in meeting with the BC Cattlemen’s Association and learning about the incredible challenges that they face each and every day, and that they overcome, I’m such an admirer of their courage and resilience. Thank goodness they do what they do.
Senator Gold, as you can imagine, COVID-19 has increased market volatility in addition to the typical risks like weather, which then would affect production and costs. Of course, there are trade disputes, and those can also impact many cattle producers. Currently, the payment trigger for the AgriStability business risk management program is set at 70% of the reference margin.
Leader, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has welcomed Minister Bibeau’s proposal last week to increase the compensation rate to 80%, but have also said they will continue to advocate for changes to the trigger and the removal of the caps on payments.
Can you explain why your government chose not to address the payment trigger? Minister Bibeau has said she is still open to other program changes. Might this be one of them?
Thank you for your question, from a city boy to a city girl.
The truth is that this government and Minister Bibeau in particular have demonstrated an openness and commitment to working with stakeholders, as the change you announced underlines. Certainly, the government continues to remain committed to hearing from stakeholders to see how the support programs that are in place can be improved.
I don’t have the answer as to why the government did not move further in response to the request of the cattlemen’s association, but this government continues to work with them to find solutions to their problems.
I’m sorry, Senator Martin, you only have 10 seconds left, so you won’t have time for a question or answer. The time for Question Period has expired.
On a point of order, I wanted to clarify: When we have Question Period and we know there’s a time limit, when there are interruptions, technical difficulties or your interventions, are those not part of the allotted time? Today seemed a lot shorter; that’s all.
We generally try to extend it to account for interruptions, Senator Martin. We’ll keep a much closer eye. The table always lets me know when time is up, and they do know that interruptions are to be extended.
