GCCA on Parliament Hill

GCCA’s Senior Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs, Lowell Randel, hit Parliament Hill in June for a series of fruitful meetings with government officials, including:

-MP Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC)

-Senior civil servants working on supply chain and industry policy at AAFC, and

-The Director of Policy to the Minister of Transport.

MP Drouin invited GCCA to participate in the House of Commons Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee’s upcoming study on the Indo-Pacific Strategy, which is expected to begin this fall. He is looking in particular for input on the strategy from a cold chain lens to ensure sustainability and quality of cold chain products at destination.

AAFC underscored the priority of a whole-of-government approach being taken on domestic food security, including for Canada’s North. They are looking for more partnership across the food supply chain, and ways to improve cost savings as part of food loss/waste initiatives such as the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. AAFC officials thanked GCCA for participation in the Consumer Demand and Market Trends Table that is looking to better understand domestic and international consumer values, preferences, and expectations; identify key, value-add domestic and international consumer market trends and growth opportunities; and identify approaches to building public trust for key consumer concerns. They invited GCCA to also participate in a new Animal Protein Table, whose mandate is still under development. They are also seeking GCCA’s expertise in CFIA’s international food waste initiatives, and in African Swine Flu preparedness planning.

The Ministry of Transport is eager for GCCA to participate in the activities of the new Supply Chain Office. Senior leadership in the new office is expected by the end of June, with staffing up to occur over the summer. In fall 2023, consultations are expected to be launched this fall that GCCA will participate in. The office will be working with industry and the provinces to respond to supply chain disruptions and coordinate action to improve capacity, efficiency, and reliability. As reported last month, the office will also be looking at how to build credibility and trust for industry to share supply chain data with government, with the system in use at the Port of Rotterdam seen by Transport Canada as a good model for where digital transformation can go.