Food Insecurity Report Released

The House of Commons Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee has released a report entitled “Feeding the World: Strengthening Canada’s Capacity to Respond to Global Food Insecurity.” There are a few recommendations of note for GCCA:

Recommendation 2: The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada make concrete changes to its temporary foreign worker programs to decrease wait times and paperwork by:

· Streamlining the Labour Market Impact Assessment process so that workers on farms, in processing plants, and throughout the agricultural production chain can arrive in Canada in a timelier fashion, notably through the introduction of a Trusted Employer Model; and

· Ensuring that temporary foreign workers employed in agriculture and food manufacturing cannot be recruited by businesses in other sectors once they arrive in Canada.

Recommendation 3: The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories—in partnership with stakeholders from agriculture, industry, and labour—to expedite the completion of its National Agricultural Labour Strategy while acknowledging existing federal-provincial labour agreements.

Recommendation 15: The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada engage in discussions with the provinces and territories with a view to implementing measures both to encourage short supply chains and value-added products and to promote cooperation between various sectors to dispose of “agricultural waste” in order to reduce food waste.

Recommendation 18: The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada, in cooperation with the provinces and territories:

· Implement the immediate response actions and long-term strategic actions contained in the Final Report of the National Supply Chain Task Force;

· Reduce bottlenecks and other obstacles to the flow of food commodities to limit their impacts on perishable food, acknowledging that vast amounts of money have already been invested through the National Trade Corridors Fund;

· Encourage investments in the rail system to promote the movement of goods at a lower cost and, more significantly, with a smaller carbon footprint; and

· Coordinate joint action between the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Department of Transport to ensure the availability of containers for inputs and exports and that it apply relevant competition legislation in this area.