Ottawa, ON, May 31, 2022 – Yesterday, Canadian food producers and suppliers (see Appendix A: Signatories to the Letter) delivered a letter to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, calling on the Federal Government to unleash Canada’s great potential for producing sustainable, affordable food for Canadians and the world.
With the war in Ukraine, ongoing challenges from COVID, global supply chain problems and environmental shocks from climate change, Canadians and citizens around the world are facing higher food costs and food shortages. These shortages will disproportionately affect the poor. It is time for Canada to intensify food production to sustainably and affordably feed Canadians and the world.
The current situation calls for a major renewed policy focus on optimizing Canada’s food production and Canadian food producers and suppliers are calling on the Prime Minster and Cabinet to take critical, immediate action.
The Government of Canada must make food security a key factor in government priorities, actions and decisions, ensuring no regulatory or political obstacles to maintaining current levels of food production, and where possible increasing food production of all types. In particular, we ask for two immediate actions:
1) Make Secure Food Production and Supply a Top Consideration in Policy and Funding Decisions: Political, regulatory and funding decisions in the near term such as agriculture’s Next Policy Framework should prioritize food security and productivity in the policy and decision-making process. This must include a focus on supply-chain resiliency to ensure Canada has the ability to get our products to the markets that need them most.
2) Focus on an Agile, Modern Regulatory Environment that Supports Production Growth: Review the 2019 Agri-Food Aquaculture and Roadmap[1] and the status of all outstanding projects and renew efforts towards their completion.
The agri-food sector in Canada is calling on the Federal Government to renew Canada’s commitment to strengthening Canada’s ability to deliver the best, high-quality and affordable food to Canadians, while also growing jobs, driving economic growth and supplying this food to the world.
[1]Agri-food and Aquaculture Roadmap: https://inspection.canada.ca/about-cfia/acts-and-regulations/forward-regulatory-plan/regulatory-roadmap/eng/1612197905956/1612197906166#a3
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For further information, please contact:
Timothy Kennedy, President & CEO
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Dave Carey, Vice-President, Government and Industry Relations
Canadian Canola Growers Association
Laurie D. Karson, Director of Communications & Stakeholder Relations
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Lowell Randel, Senior Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs
Global Cold Chain Alliance