• Respect and defend supply management for our dairy and poultry farms and ensure that farming families are engaged in any trade negotiations or programs impacting the sector and that the Minister of Agriculture is at the table for those negotiations.
• Open new markets for our livestock, grain, and oilseed producers in our free trade negotiations.
• Within our first 100 days in office, finalize compensation program for supply managed processors under CPTPP and CETA and negotiate a compensation package for farmers and processors impacted by CUSMA.
• Work with the US Administration to remove the CUSMA limits on Canadian exports of powdered milk to third-party countries and establish reciprocal norms to ensure that our quality standards are respected.
• Work with the provinces to adopt a grocery supply code to deal with retailers’ abusive pricing and contracting practices against farmers, producers, and processors.
° Certain grocery retail giants have imposed special fees and fines on suppliers.
° A code of conduct will guarantee Canadian consumers a reliable, affordable supply of food on their local grocers’ shelves.
• Protect family farms by ending unfair tax treatment
° The Trudeau Liberals defied Parliament by delaying the implementation of Bill C-208, despite it passing with broad support, and clearly plan to repeal it if they win a majority.
° We will ensure that the sale of a family farm to a family member is not taxed at a higher rate than a sale to a stranger.
• Improve payment security for farmers and food processors by creating a statutory deemed trust for suppliers of perishable produce in bankruptcy and harmonize our regime with that of the US to regain reciprocal protection under the U.S. Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
• Work towards greater harmonization of farm product regulations with our trading partners, especially the United States.
• Ensure our farm safety net programs are predictable, bankable, and manageable.
• Implement a plan to tackle rural crime and ensure that farm families feel safe.
• Amend existing laws to allow livestock owners to use local abattoirs, reducing both stress to the animals and the production of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from transportation to distant facilities and make permanent the temporary measures that allowed provincial authorities to enable collaboration across provinces to use their provincial abattoirs for products that would move across provincial borders.
• Protect our food supply by implementing a food security strategy including:
° Redirecting some federal agricultural research funding to partnering with the private sector to develop methods to grow more crops in Canada year-round in greenhouses.
• Work with provinces, industry and the CBSA to develop a national strategy to deal with a possible outbreak of African swine fever.
• Reform Business Risk Management programs, particularly AgriInvest and AgriRecovery.
• Bring agricultural stakeholders together for a summit-like meeting with the Minister of Agriculture to develop a way forward on insurance programs like AgriStability
• Modernize the Canada Grain Act and Canadian Grain Commission
° To support farmers, we will make sure that the Canada Grain Act (CGA) and Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) align with modern agricultural practices, global market requirements, and the needs of our farmers.
° Agriculture has changed drastically in recent decades. Unfortunately, the regulation of agriculture in Canada has not always kept up with the market. We will bring the CGA and CGC in line with today’s standards in consultation with farmers.
• Implement an Agriculture and Agri-Food Labour Strategy
° To better support farmers and food processors, we will help make sure they have access to the workers they need. Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector is an economic powerhouse with a global reputation for safe, high-quality products. Many parts of this sector, however, are hampered by chronic labour shortages across all skill levels. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will develop a strategy for dealing with these labour shortages in close consultation with industry.
° We will: Recognize the need for international farm workers and facilitate their timely entrance into Canada to work on Canadian farms.
° Develop a long-term strategy to attract skilled workers to the meat processing sector, which is currently facing a 30,000 worker deficit that is putting Canada’s supply chains at risk and harming our long-term competitiveness.
• Extend “right to repair” to farm vehicles to provide farmers with choice on where to repair their vehicles.