House ag committee selects new chair

Kody Blois, a Liberal MP from Nova Scotia, is the new chair of the standing committee on agriculture.

Conservative Alberta MP John Barlow and Bloc Quebecois MP Yves Perron are vice-chairs.

The committee held its first meeting yesterday, and Blois said before the members got down to official business that in his two previous years on the committee the work had always been collaborative.

“The folks that sit around this table care about farmers,” he said.

“My hope in sitting in this position is that we as a committee continue to do that work.”

Barlow also said in an interview the committee is not overly partisan and he hopes to “maintain that collegial approach.”

However, the first issue the committee discussed was a motion from Barlow to hold a three-hour meeting with officials before Christmas to discuss the export ban on potatoes from Prince Edward Island and the flooding and landslides in British Columbia.

He said he had spoken to all parties, who had informally approved his motion, yet he wasn’t able to gain approval from the Liberal majority to move forward, as two new committee members were concerned about timelines and the ability of officials to prepare.

“Potatoes are perishable. We aren’t back until Jan. 27 and by that time it’s too late to have this discussion and find out what’s going on,” Barlow said during the meeting, adding that department officials are professionals who should have all the information the committee needs.

The committee eventually agreed to hear from officials on the potato export ban and leave the B.C. discussion to January.

The committee agreed to table the food processing report it produced in the last Parliament because there were no dissenting comments.

As well, Perron introduced notice of a number of motions he wants the committee to discuss.

He said his motion to look at slaughter capacity to ensure stability and competitiveness could be discussed in the context of the report on processing.

He also asked the committee to renew its study on the environmental contribution of agriculture, assess the impacts of the first year of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on agriculture, and examine reciprocity of standards to ensure that imported food products meet Canadian standards and safety.

The committee will further discuss those motions in the new year.

karen.briere@producer.com