The weekly article summarizes ag exchanges during question period
A new session of Parliament started on Sept. 15, meaning a new series of Ag in the House articles is soon to follow.
For those new to the series, it’s a weekly article designed to keep members of the Canadian ag industry up to date about how much time issues related to agriculture receive in the House of Commons during question period.
Question period occurs at 2pm ET between Monday and Thursday. On Fridays, MPs gather at 11:15am ET.
The pieces will include comments from Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, Conservative Ag Critic John Barlow and other MPs.
Since producers may be too busy to watch question period each day or consult the hansard (record of debates), Farms.com will happily take on that responsibility.
Farms.com hopes this useful information will help keep Canadian producers informed about what Prime Minister Carney’s government is doing to support the industry and how opposition parties are keeping the federal government accountable for their actions.
Here are some exchanges from the brief summer session of Parliament.
On June 12, Saskatchewan Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer asked what the government is doing to support farmers after China put 100 per cent tariffs on canola oil and meal.
Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald replied, indicating he had met with producers and that the government will always stand up for farmers.
And on June 13, Clifford Small, the Conservative MP for Central Newfoundland asked the government when it would “fix the mess it has made” so farmers and fishermen can get relief from Chinese tariffs.
Maninder Sidhu, the minister of international trade, told the House he met with China’s commerce minister, and they agreed to launch the Joint Economic Trade Commission (JETC).
In anticipation for Parliament’s return, Farms.com spoke with Tyler McCann, the managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, about current issues affecting ag and how those could translate into the House of Commons.
With Chinese tariffs still affecting agriculture, this topic could get ample time.
“The negative reaction from canola groups and the outcome of this China trip will influence how it’s talked about in Parliament,” he said. “This is a really good example of the difficult and contentious issues Canada has to navigate, and the government needs to make some choices about.”