Trade 

This year’s gathering of agriculture ministers comes in the midst of an escalating trade war. Several countries, including Canada, have imposed retaliatory tariffs on a laundry list of U.S. products after the Trump administration levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum imports.

Canada’s retaliatory tariff package, which took effect July 1, is valued at $16.6 billion. Many food items made the list, including gherkin pickles, pizza and quiches, soup, salad dressings, ketchup and mayonnaise. But no primary agriculture products are on the list at this time due to fears of unintended consequences on producers here at home.

CFA President Ron Bonnett holds a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, March 1, 2018. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

The perishability of agriculture goods often makes the sector one of the first to be targeted in a trade dispute. At least one Canadian farm group warned the sector may need an “ad hoc” support program in the short term, given the current trade uncertainty. Canadian commodities prices are tied to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which has seen declines in light of increased trade tensions – notably between the United States and China. Canadian farmers have said they expect domestic prices will fall as a result.

The increased trade tensions have led Farm Credit Canada, the country’s largest agriculture lender, to tell producers they should review their operation’s risk management plans.

South of the border, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has repeatedly promised American farmers they will not suffer undue consequences from the trade spat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has not revealed specific details about its support package.

Meanwhile, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement continues, although talks have stalled in recent months. Farmers, who have benefited significantly from the decades-old trade pact, have repeatedly pleaded with negotiators to do no harm.

But the United States isn’t the only market that’s going to come up at the talks. India and Canada continue to be embroiled in a lengthy dispute over pulses. Meanwhile, no Canadian durum wheat is currently being exported to Italy.

Italy has also said repeatedly it will not ratify the Comprehensive and Economic Free Trade Agreement (CETA) – a trade pact Canada’s agriculture industry has been hoping to use in order to diversify its markets.

Meanwhile, the Trudeau government continues to face increased pressure from farm groups who want Canada to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with countries in the Asia Pacific region as quickly as possible. The trade deal, formerly known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, has already been ratified by two countries. Canada has said it wants to be one of the initial six countries to implement the deal.

International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne introduced the legislation needed to ratify the deal in the House of Commons in June.

All this trade talk comes as Canada’s agriculture industry continues to try and figure out how to meet a 2017 Liberal trade challenge that called on the sector to increase their exports by $75 billion by 2025. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has repeatedly insisted that target remains achievable, despite the current trading environment.

Labour 

There’s a serious worker shortage developing within Canada’s agriculture industry. Earlier this year, Canadian fruit and vegetable growers who employ foreign workers accused the federal government of going on a “witch hunt.” They say it’s jeopardizing the future of Canada’s farms and causing many producers extreme stress.

Canada’s agriculture industry has long grappled with severe labour shortages. It’s a crisis farm groups warn is only expected to get worse, with the country’s agriculture industry currently short 59,000 on farm workers.

Ministers have scheduled time to talk about the industry’s labour crunch during their annual meeting. It’s an issue Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister told iPolitics isn’t getting better in farm country.

“It seems the ag message has not been getting to the federal government around, in particular, temporary foreign workers,” Lyle Stewart said, noting he talks to producers every day about their labour challenges. He said Saskatchewan, and likely most provinces, want more flexibility within the program to deal with the shortages.

In an interview with iPolitics July 12, Farm Credit Canada’s Chief Economist JP Gervais warned continued labour shortages could start to undermine the sector’s balance sheet.

Employment Minister Patty Hajdu and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos held a roundtable in Quebec City on July 10 where they discussed the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. That came on the heels of a joint roundtable in May organized by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. MacAulay, Hajdu and Rodger Cuzner, the parliamentary secretary for employment, all attended.

In recent weeks, growers in British Columbia have warned that if labour does not come through quickly, there could be crop losses. 

Cannabis

This year’s FPT meeting comes three months before the Trudeau government’s legalization deadline of October 17 and the Quebec government wants it on the agenda. The province has requested a general update about the new legislation.

Cannabis plants are photographed during the grand opening event for the CannTrust Niagara Greenhouse Facility in Fenwick, Ont., on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Many within Canada’s agriculture industry have said they see Canada’s decision to legalize cannabis as a potential growth market for the sector.

A report released by Deloitte in June estimated the legal cannabis industry could generate up to $4.35 billion in sales, with Canadians expected to spend up to $7.17 billion on cannabis products in 2019. Consumption, the study estimated, could grow by as much as 35 per cent.

Business Risk Management

Last year, at the request of Ontario’s then-Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal, Canada’s agriculture ministers agreed to a one-year review of this country’s suite of business risk management programs. That includes programs like crop insurance, protections for producers against price shocks, and another program which encourages sector investment. Most of the funding is allocated under the current Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year funding funding framework earmarked for business risk management.

The federal-provincial program has been heavily criticized by producers who say some, notably AgriStability, don’t work. AgriStability is designed to stabilize farmers’ incomes when margins fall. However, producer participation in the program has been in decline.

An external advisory panel was struck in December 2017. In recent weeks, at least one member of that advisory panel has urged the country’s agriculture ministers to extend the review’s timeline.

In a release, Ontario grain farmer Mark Brock, who also chairs the AgGrowth Coalition, said the BRM review should be passed on to a new steering committee so that more farm groups can have input.

Carbon Tax

The agriculture industry is staunchly opposed to the Trudeau government’s carbon tax. Farmers argue the policy will lead to additional costs across the supply chain – fees that will fall back on the farmer and undermine the sector’s competitiveness.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chats with Rod Lewis at his Lewis Land Limited farm near Gray, Sask., Thursday, April 27, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor.

Many of Canada’s top trading partners, notably the United States, do not have a carbon tax in place.

The Trudeau government has drafted what it says is a revenue-neutral carbon tax of $10 per tonne in 2018 – rising to $50 per tonne by 2022 – for any province that has not signed on to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate that requires provinces to create a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system of their own by September 1. Saskatchewan and Ontario staunchly oppose the plan, and both are challenging the policy in court.

“It’s a bad idea,” Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart told iPolitics Friday, insisting it’s “ineffective and very expensive.” More needs to be done to develop new technology to reduce emissions.

Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island’s Environment Minister Richard Brown told CBC News in an interview July 11 that the province’s plan won’t include a carbon tax either.

MacAulay faced criticism from farmers and Opposition MPs this spring when he told senators the sector was supportive of the Trudeau government’s policies. He later told MPs in the House of Commons he understood farmers were concerned. 

Miscellaneous

Nova Scotia’s Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell is expected to provide his fellow ministers with an update about two hard frosts that hit the province last month. The June frost reportedly wiped out 70 per cent of the province’s wild blueberry crop.

The Saskatchewan government wants a grain transportation update, with more specifics about how the country’s new Transportation Modernization Act will be rolled out. Bill C-49 was passed by Parliament in June. Its regulations have yet to be released. Under the act, CN and CP are required to submit grain transportation plans to the federal transport minister by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Quebec officials have asked that ministers discuss management strategies during health emergencies.

Who’s going to be at this year’s meeting?

Pending any unforeseen circumstances, the agriculture ministers from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia are expected to attend this year’s gathering alongside their deputy ministers. The federal agriculture minister will also be there.

iPolitics has confirmed Newfoundland’s Agriculture Minister Gerry Byrne, a former federal MP, will not be attending this year’s FPT meeting. Parliamentary secretary Derrick Bragg and department officials will attend in his place.

Prince Edward Island’s Agriculture Minister Robert Henderson won’t be there, either. The province said in an email MLA Hal Perry will attend in his place.

New Brunswick Agriculture Minister Wilfred Roussel will also not attend next week’s meeting. Senior officials from the province will attend instead, his office said.