QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
Market Diversification
November 18, 2020
Senator Gold, many of us in this chamber — and I think on all sides of the chamber — would be happy to come to Ottawa and debate a government bill to help Canadian farmers, and doing it with the urgency we are again putting on a bill today to help so many Canadians.
Ninety per cent of canola produced in Canada is exported. The second-biggest market for Canadian canola producers is China, accounting for $2.1 billion in exports. In 2019, canola seed exports to China were down two thirds from 2018 due to the ongoing dispute between our two countries. Again, you say the government is well aware.
What is this government doing either to help canola farmers diversify their market or to compensate them? Is your government open to the idea of making changes to AgriStability to help them weather this ongoing trade disruption?
Senator, thank you again for your question. The government continues to work with stakeholders and with all sectors to try to find the best ways to target their assistance. As the government announced recently on a number of occasions, as we move into this next wave and phase of the pandemic and with the need to maintain our economy and social fabric, the government is increasingly focused on measures that will target specific industries. Indications of that thinking have been made public for some time now. I have every confidence that when specific measures for the agricultural industry, or any other, are ready to be announced, they will be with dispatch.
