Agriculture Minister MacDonald faced his first questions on June 12
New Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald faced his first questions during question period on June 12.
Jeremy Patzer, the Conservative MP for Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley in Saskatchewan, asked about the government’s response to China’s 100 per cent tariffs on canola oil and meal.
China implemented these tariffs in March after Canada put tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
After thanking his family and constituents of Malpeque in P.E.I. for their support, the minister responded.
“This is immensely important for us, and I will be travelling to the prairie provinces this weekend to meet with farmers to see first-hand the effect of the canola tariffs,” MacDonald said. “I will say that we had the international trade minister meeting with officials and the Prime Minister. We are moving in the right direction, and we will always stand up for farmers.”
Steven Bonk, the Conservative MP for Souris-Moose Mountain in Sask., continued to pressure the minister about tariff relief.
The Chinese tariffs are “jeopardizing family farms, threatening livelihoods and undermining the backbone of our agricultural economy,” he said, asking when Canada will stand up for farmers.
Minister MacDonald used his response time to highlight Canadian ag and call for unity.
“One in nine jobs is related to farming, and 6.75% of our GDP is related to farming. I have spoken to every first minister across the country, and one thing we have in common is that we are united in our front against these tariffs, and we will stay that way because it is going to benefit everybody,” the minister said.
On June 13, Conservatives continued to ask the government about supporting farmers and others affected by tariffs.
Clifford Small, the Conservative MP for Central Newfoundland, asked International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu when farmers and fishermen can expect tariff relief.
The minister told the House about a meeting he had with Chinese officials.
“Last week, I sat down with the Minister of Commerce from China, Minister Wang, to talk about some of these issues that we are working though, whether it is canola, beef or pet food. These are some of the issues that came up at the table,” the minister said. “We agreed to launch the JETC, the joint economic and trade commission, to work through some of these issues, because we know we need to continue to open new markets for Canadians.”