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Results: 136 - 150 of 206
Fernande Ouellet
View Fernande Ouellet Profile
Fernande Ouellet
2020-12-01 16:48
If it was put in place by local governments, it should nevertheless be managed by the community. That's where you can more easily find the labour that decides to invest in their abattoir and infrastructure, since you're providing them with the local organization and a kind of agriculture they want.
If it's done only by the communities, that's something else. In other words, for example, you can't ask regional county municipality to manage an infrastructure facility, but you can ask a community.
View Kody Blois Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Kody Blois Profile
2020-12-01 16:49
You mentioned aggregation. One of the things I hear from my small producers is that they'll get to a certain level, but then there's the ability to aggregate to get to those economies of scale to be competitive. How is that playing out?
I understand that the investment has actually happened in Granby and that you guys have moved forward. Are you selling meat products to retailers, or are you simply doing the processing and sending them back to primary producers?
Fernande Ouellet
View Fernande Ouellet Profile
Fernande Ouellet
2020-12-01 16:49
The key to success is that you definitely do not take part in marketing. You have to let people do their own marketing, which promotes the distinctive features of their products.
I would add that we'll never be big enough to maintain stock and operate in markets involving major distributors that can easily trigger price wars that we will lose. It's pointless to venture into those areas.
Being just a service provider is enough to increase abattoir capacity in the regions, and that ensures that the project will continue.
View Mélanie Joly Profile
Lib. (QC)
Good morning.
Thank you to the committee members for inviting me today. It is always a pleasure to appear before the committee.
Since my last appearance at this committee in late April, Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan has helped protect millions of jobs, provided emergency support to families and kept businesses afloat as they deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As communities cope with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is safe to say these are extraordinary, challenging and stressful times. As elected officials, we share the responsibility of leading by example and reassuring our constituents by being there for them and showing them we are committed to helping.
Since the beginning of the health crisis, our government has been there. We have listened to Canadians and consistently adjusted the supports available to them to ensure the social safety net protects those who need it most.
Alongside programs like the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account, a critical part of our response has been the regional relief and recovery fund, or RRRF. Delivered through the six regional development agencies, the fund helps businesses and not-for-profit organizations that may not be eligible for other programs or that require additional assistance. It has proven to be a lifeline for businesses that might otherwise not have survived.
In rural communities, we have provided more funding to Community Futures Development Corporations, commonly known as CFDCs. They help rural businesses access capital and technical support.
Since we launched the RRRF in May, it has assisted more than 12,000 businesses, helping them cover costs and protect more than 100,000 jobs across the country. It has been vital in helping them keep their employees, pay their bills and prepare for a more sustainable future.
In the midst of a second wave and in the face of an alarming increase of COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country, many businesses across the country find themselves on shaky ground. That's why just last month our government announced that it would provide an additional $600 million to support workers and businesses through the RRRF. This will bring our RRRF support, through the regional development agencies, to more than $1.5 billion to further help businesses and organizations weather the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past several months, I've heard first-hand, through phone calls and video teleconferences, from many businesses and organizations that have benefited from what they have described as very much welcome support.
Through CFDCs and Business Development Centres, or BDCs, in Quebec, we have provided more than 3,400 businesses with liquidity and technical support, thereby protecting 15,000 jobs. Some 600 of those are in northern Quebec, including in the Abitibi—Témiscamingue region.
I have no doubt that information will be of particular interest to my fellow member Mr. Lemire.
Across Canada we've helped businesses and communities respond to the challenges of COVID-19, whether it has been helping businesses in Stratford, for example—I'm convinced John will want to have more information about that—to adapt to the loss of the festival; working with Edmonton Global to track investments and promote trade—I'm convinced James may be interested in that information as well—or funding an incubator in Toronto that will help entrepreneurs from under-represented groups. If Nate wants information about that, I'm here as well.
As we all know, tourism businesses have been deeply affected by the crisis. Thanks to the RRRF, as well as the broader measures implemented by our government, we have been able to help numerous tourism businesses. We know, however, that our work must continue, and it is continuing because they are confronted with unique circumstances.
We are working closely with tourism stakeholders, as of course they are dealing with the impact of the pandemic.
Businesses of all sizes have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the regional relief and recovery fund is here for them.
We're here to reaffirm to businesses that the government has their backs, obviously, and of course I am willing to answer my colleagues' questions regarding anything the regional development agencies have been doing in the context of this pandemic. Our officials, Nav's and mine, are here to answer any specific questions as well.
Thank you.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
I asked about the retroactive part, so I hope you will mention that, but the other thing I wanted to question is around start-up indigenous businesses. I'll start with you and then maybe go to Ms. Bull.
We know that across the board brand new businesses that were just starting up in Canada not too long before COVID-19 are really struggling. I'm wondering if you're hearing anything about start-up indigenous businesses. I think it's really important that we talk about this, because not only is this about supporting business, but there's the economic justice part of this and understanding that legislation, provincially and federally, has silenced and stifled indigenous businesses forever. If we're going to actually deal with that economic justice, we need to support them.
If you could talk about the retroactive pay for start-up businesses, Mr. Metatawabin, then I could move on to you, Ms. Bull.
Shannin Metatawabin
View Shannin Metatawabin Profile
Shannin Metatawabin
2020-11-17 12:47
Thank you very much for the question.
Businesses are still planning. They're all readjusting to this new world that we're living in. A lot of them are going online. They're definitely marketing and providing more website and online services. Businesses are creating online types of businesses, but the hardest hit are the tourism-type businesses, which have lost an entire season. We really have to think about supporting them.
This retroactive idea that you have about going back to when the government first announced it would be great. We were initially told that we would, at minimum, mirror the Canadian emergency program, but we're not even afforded that right now with the delay in having those businesses being eligible for the $60,000. We really need to catch up and provide the support necessary to support our community.
Tabatha Bull
View Tabatha Bull Profile
Tabatha Bull
2020-11-17 12:48
You're quite right. Thank you for acknowledging that with respect to indigenous businesses.
We definitely do see that a number of businesses in the indigenous economy are very young—less than five years old—and with a number of these supports in particular, we had a number of members who had not yet filed a tax return and couldn't apply for a number of the wage subsidies. They were so young that they didn't have revenue to be able to compare to as a gauge for the wage subsidy as well, and also for CEBA. Those have been some of the barriers. I know that there has been some work to fix some of those barriers, but that is a concern.
We need to look into that a little more to see about those young businesses and their survival rate through this period. Perhaps there is a recommendation or a potential program, so that as a priority we could support those businesses that have failed, or that were new businesses, in order for them to recover, innovate and return to the economy.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Now I will continue with Ms. Saunders, from SheEO.
We know that it is difficult to promote health when women are not really attracted by politics or when they are hesitant to take higher positions. We talk with a lot of women.
What are the main obstacles?
Vicki Saunders
View Vicki Saunders Profile
Vicki Saunders
2020-07-07 15:58
If you mean climbing the ranks within corporate structures, that's not an area I focus on. We're interested in funding women innovators and women entrepreneurs and helping them thrive. The way we do that with SheEO is that we fund them and support them on their own terms instead of trying to “fix” them to fit into the existing systems we have. We are designing and creating new business models and new approaches to doing business that work on women's terms, and when you design from that perspective, you don't have any issues with people climbing. They're completely fine when they create their own rules.
When we get stuck into having to fit into other people's rules, like, for example, when you have to work from nine to five and you have to go pick up your kids at school but you can't do that because the rules inside business are different.... When you change those rules, women are fine. There's no need to fix women to fit into these models. We need to change our systems so that they fit with women.
View Gord Johns Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you for that. It's very important.
Chief Paul, you talked about some of the barriers that indigenous fishers are facing around capacity building, around financing. Can you speak to that a little bit? I know that where I live, the Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood corporation has been lobbying for more investments in capacity building. Is that something you could speak to in terms of your community and how that's affecting your members?
Terrance Paul
View Terrance Paul Profile
Terrance Paul
2020-06-16 15:52
Yes, it certainly is. We have a lot more people who want to go out fishing, but they can't get access. Again, we would like to work with the government, and we would like the fisheries associations to work with us to try to get more of us in. The decision was made over 20 years ago, and we're still in the situation where.... Like I say, it's a fishery of a different kind. We're not considered regular fishermen. Indigenous communities hold commercial communal fishing licences. We're not getting anywhere, and it's a big issue for us. We're still having discussions, but it seems like the wheels are spinning and we're not really getting anywhere.
Marlene Poitras
View Marlene Poitras Profile
Marlene Poitras
2020-06-12 11:08
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
[Witness spoke in Cree as follows:]
????????? ?????
[Cree text translated as follows:]
I thank you all.
[English]
I thank you for the opportunity to address you from the heart of Treaty 6 territory. I represent a region fully encompassed by treaty numbers 6, 7 and 8.
These treaties are more than just agreements between our nations to share the land and live in peaceful co-existence. They are living, breathing relationships that form the basis of your Constitution to this day.
I raise this because many nations are the beneficiaries of the clauses in their treaties, including for the provision of medicine and assistance in times of pestilence. While financial aid and resources have moved quickly to first nations and the collaboration and communication of our regional office have been commendable, Canada continues to fail to meet its commitments and obligations to our treaty relationship, even during a specific circumstance when the Crown promised to support us in a way that we needed.
First nations are being recognized for how they have addressed this crisis. By setting up borders, curfews and other security measures, first nations have fared better statistically speaking than Canadians, but, as one of my colleagues recently said at a meeting, this is not only because of an overabundance of caution, but in fact that the response that so many have celebrated was also born out of necessity.
Our leaders put those extraordinary measures in place because we still have homes that house upwards of 15 people. We have elders who could perish from this disease, and there is never enough time to transmit the knowledge they carry. We have a disproportionate number of people who suffer from chronic illnesses, and we have communities where people can't even properly wash their hands. The list goes on and on.
If it's not a clear sign that systemic racism is alive and well in Canada, I don't know what else this country needs to hear to finally take action on the gross inequality that exists between Canada and first nations.
The fact is that when the indigenous community support fund was rolled out, Canada used a funding formula that only accounted for first nations on-reserve members when it very well has the ability to account for all first nations members both on and off reserve. This is proof that Canada is only willing to recognize our nationhood within the confines of a reserve. How can a government purport to support nation rebuilding when it intentionally finds ways to limit our authority and jurisdiction to borders it determines?
To make matters worse, our leaders scrambled to pass public health orders and laws to safeguard communities from this virus. Some of them in Alberta had to expend exorbitant amounts of own-source revenue to hire security teams to protect their communities. When law enforcement agencies were called to support these public health measures, some refused and said our laws weren't enforceable or, worse, were unconstitutional.
How can we ever be true nation-to-nation partners if Canada is unwilling to accept our laws as equal to its own? This country already recognizes two legal systems, civil and common. It is not unreasonable to expect the same for ours. Let me remind you that if Canada didn't recognize our treaties, you wouldn't have a Constitution.
As we begin the phased reopening of our societies and start working toward economic recovery, we recommend that there be increased availability of testing for first nations people; that first nations-specific assessment guidelines for testing, contact tracing, treatment and vaccinations be designed with first nations technicians, leaders and knowledge keepers; that first nations be able to determine their data needs and that those be responded to appropriately for planning subsequent health crises.
This latter point is critical to self-determination because first nations have not been the first to find out when a confirmed case is in their community. The province continues to hold that information, which then goes to Canada, and finally to the first nation.
Moreover, tracking of cases by Alberta Health reflects first nations on and off reserve, yet the source of information is outdated and is still based on the old Alberta health care data arrangement. Similarly, census data from 2016 is still used as the base number of our populations. Those numbers aren't accurate because many first nations don't actively participate in the census.
Last, distinct funding must be provided to support first nations businesses with the recovery, and we must be active participants in the rebuilding of our economies. I say this because I keep hearing that people can’t wait until things get back to normal, but there’s a part of me that says normal didn’t do us justice. Normal meant injustices for our people; it meant underinvestment in our communities; it meant the exploitation of our lands without our consent.
We now have an opportunity to work together to make things better: to develop our solutions, to develop our laws and to develop whatever it is we need to ensure our people can benefit and thrive. The only way that is going to happen is if our treaty partners come to the table and we work together effectively and efficiently in true partnership.
Thank you. Ay Hiy. Nanaskomin.
Michael Denham
View Michael Denham Profile
Michael Denham
2020-06-09 16:36
Yes, Mr. Chair, and thank you very much.
I want to start by thanking all the members of the committee for your service and for the work you do, especially during these challenging times. Canadians are counting on solid leadership, and I'm very pleased that the committee members are providing it.
I also want to reiterate, Mr. Chair, that my two colleagues are with me. In particular, Jérôme Nycz, who is the EVP for BDC Capital, will answer detailed questions on our pandemic response as it relates to venture capital. I'll make sure that Jérôme has a chance to answer those.
I know that BDC doesn't require a long introduction, by virtue of our 75-year history and the fact that we have been mentioned a fair bit in the media since the start of the pandemic, but for the record, I just want to remind folks that BDC is Canada's only bank that focuses exclusively on entrepreneurs. We're a Crown corporation that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade.
We operate at arm's length from the government as a lender and as an investor. In this sense, we complement rather than compete with private sector financial institutions, and we're not in the business of providing grants. We take on more risk than other financial institutions, and when times are tough, as they are now, we like to step up and we expect to step up. We also have venture capital and advisory offerings.
What I would like to do is describe the listening to entrepreneurs that we've been doing and share with you as well the direct and indirect measures that we've undertaken to help companies in response to COVID and also in response to the drop in oil prices.
We've done six surveys, both of clients and non-clients, basically once every two weeks since the crisis started. These are published on our website. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the sentiment has improved. Entrepreneurs are still quite concerned—don't get me wrong—but the sense of panic that existed initially has subsided as entrepreneurs have taken stock of the situation and the host of relief measures now available to them. Let me illustrate.
In response to the question, “How worried are you about the impact of COVID on your business?”, 83% were concerned at the end of March. That number is down to 69%, as of midnight. Similarly, on the ability to borrow, 36% were concerned at the start of April. That number is now down to 20% in May.
We're also seeing sentiments improving around several key business dimensions, including the ability to keep employees on payroll, at 47% then versus 65% now; ability to repay debt at 45% then and now at 60%; and, on keeping businesses open, 37% then versus 61% now. In fact, concern is growing more about the ability to meet demand and the lack of personnel to do so. Notwithstanding these improvements.... Don't get me wrong, because the level of concern in absolute terms remains very high, but I do want to highlight that there has been some limited progress made in terms of levels of [Technical difficulty—Editor].
On recovery, 76% of those surveyed feel ready to resume their activities, with 50% saying that it will be easy. The top lessons entrepreneurs have learned, which they have shared with us, are the importance of good cash flow and an emergency fund, as well as expense control. Looking ahead, 36% plan to reduce their expenses and 32% to broaden their offering, and 30% plan to sell online.
That's a summary of what we've heard in our extensive surveying of entrepreneurs.
Moving out of BDC's activities to our direct measures, we introduced a postponement of payments for up to six months free of charge for existing BDC clients with total loan commitments of $1 million or less. We've done almost 37,000 of these postponements, representing more than $800 million in cash flow benefits to our clients and $16 billion, or about half, of our existing loan portfolio. The volume of requests for these postponements continues to decrease. Now we're down to about 30 per day from a peak of 1,200 per day in late March.
We're also authorizing new direct loans, with an online financing loan of up to $100,000. We've drafted this to use a higher risk threshold than normal. We're accepting lower credit scores than had been the case, given the uncertain times, and we reduced our pricing.
We're also offering working capital loans for up to $2 million providing flexible payment terms and payment postponements for the first six months. We've reduced pricing on this product as well.
Application rates for these loans were tremendous early on. We received literally more online applications for working capital loans in the two weeks after announcing our first wave of measures back on March 18 than we typically do over a full year.
I'd also like to note that since this peak, demand has been normalizing, and seemingly in parallel with the improving sentiment of entrepreneurs, demand for online loans through BDC continues to fall. Notably, online financing applications are dropping gradually from about 80 per day, due to the Canada emergency business account and other emergency measures that have been made available for entrepreneurs.
Together, all told, we've authorized almost 10,000 direct loans for nearly $2 billion since our fiscal year started in April. Compared to our normal levels for these types of loans, this represents eight times more in terms of volume, and almost 14 times more in terms of the total value of the loans we've authorized.
Again, our debt solutions are intended to complement the other liquidity support measures that federal and provincial governments have introduced. Indeed, many SMEs have ended up opting for these solutions as they're sometimes preferred as the only solution they need.
To help early-stage tech companies in consultation with the CVCA, which is the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, and Réseau Capital, we've put in place a bridge financing program—this relates to venture capital—to match a current financing round being raised through qualified existing and/or new investors into eligible Canadian VC-backed start-ups. The program is ideal for high-potential companies that have investor syndicates willing to support them. BDC invests alongside these syndicates.
To date, we have done about 23 deals totalling $45 million of investment. We originally announced the size of this bridge financing envelope to be $150 million, but based on the demand and the conversations we've had with VC-backed companies, we've increased the size of this program to $300 million based on this assessment of the market.
BDC also offers advisory services. At our advisory services, we want to make sure that Canadian businesses have all the information they need to cope, pivot and recover once the crisis is over. We're doing this primarily through bdc.ca—primarily free of charge—including advice for entrepreneurs in the form of tool kits and articles on their key performance indicators.
There have been just over two million sessions so far on bdc.ca, including close to 25% that have gone to specific COVID-related viewing pages. We will continue to make sure that businesses are aware of this free information that we're providing. Three new COVID-19-themed solutions are now available to address the most pressing issues. We've created a resource tool for entrepreneurs, summarizing federal and provincial COVID supports. This summary tool has been downloaded over 6,000 times.
BDC can't do it alone. Inspired by the experience of the 2008 financial crisis, we're also involved with our shareholder, EDC, and Canadian financial institutions in BCAP, the business credit availability program. The intent, as you all know, is to partner with private sector lenders to provide incremental credit into the system on market terms on a risk-sharing basis.
Only the banks, along with other commercial lenders, can provide the massive reach and the speed that the economy requires now. The speed comes from leveraging their existing banking relations to minimizing the time-consuming back and forth known as “know your client”.
Banks have a key roll to play in this program, as do credit unions. Small and medium-sized businesses can get support through a co-lending program for their operational cash flow requirements through BCAP. Eligible businesses can obtain up to $12.5 million through the program, which will be risk-shared 80% by BDC and 20% by the financial institution. This broadens our reach very significantly. This solution complements the EDC export guarantee program, which I know you discussed earlier today.
Our program launched on April 24. Eighteen financial institutions are now signed up, with dozens more in active negotiations.
Now, reporting on volume is dependent on the FIs and will involve a lag, so we don't have the volume information just yet, but I will be pleased, very pleased, to come back to this committee with the banks to report how the program is going.
Also, as part of BCAP, BDC announced a mid-market financing program to make additional credit available, up to $60 million per business until or before September, working closely with the companies of the primary lenders. That means loans are meant to be used to fund operational cash flow needs for a 12-month horizon, which will in turn ensure a degree of continuity of operations during this period of uncertainty.
It's structured as a junior loan, and it serves as a bridge, which is very light on cash flow to a point in time four years down the road. I'd be happy to discuss the mechanics with the committee when we get there. This facility will be launching in a couple of days. We're just finalizing now the legals with the bank and have included support for all sectors, including oil and gas, as previously announced.
Looking ahead to the fall, BDC will be there in the recovery, as we've been in the past, including during the credit crisis. We'll work with the government to make sure we share our market insights as the situation continues to evolve. Regarding loan offerings, we'll stay vigilant and continue to adapt to evolving needs as the economy ramps up. We'll ramp up in a commensurate way to help businesses invest and to help them grow. In particular, we can expect that Canadian businesses will continue to digitize and to adapt to the new reality, and we'll work to minimize the risks on their supply chains.
Thank you for your attention. I hope this lays a useful frame for our discussion.
Catherine St-Georges
View Catherine St-Georges Profile
Catherine St-Georges
2020-06-05 15:01
Good afternoon.
My name is Catherine St-Georges, and I am a marketing consultant for the Union des producteurs agricoles, or UPA. I am also the secretary for the Table pour le développement des marchés de proximité, a local market development issue table established by the UPA in June 2019 and chaired by Mr. Groleau, the UPA's president.
The issue table is a forum that brings together some 30 organizations to discuss developing local markets. In my speaking notes, which were provided to you, I refer to information from the 2016 census. That was the first time the questionnaire included a question about direct marketing.
It's positive to see a question like that on the census form, but so far, the data are very preliminary. We are hoping for more detailed data on local markets in the next few years.
According to respondents, 19% of farms reported engaging in direct marketing. That doesn't mean that they only sell products directly to consumers; it simply means that they have. For instance, it might be a dairy farmer who has a sugar bush and sells maple syrup directly to consumers. Direct marketing encompasses farm stands, farmer's baskets and farmers' markets.
We don't have any data on how those sales impact farm income, jobs or acreage, but we do know that these farms need more temporary and seasonal workers to support local markets. What's more, these farms usually devote more hours to the business, meaning, that the owner spends more time working in the business than a traditional business owner. In many cases, the owner has a job outside the farm.
A total of 57% of businesses that reported using direct marketing had less than $50,000 in sales. Generally speaking, they are small farms.
I should point out that all of these figures relate to Quebec farms.
Quebec's ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food is examining the sales of all the traditional channels, including grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. By extracting the remaining portion, the ministry arrived at the sales of non-traditional channels. It estimates that, for 2018, some $800 million in sales is attributable to local marketing.
In Quebec, local marketing brings the farmer and consumer closer together. That can mean geographically, so, in the same administrative region—the distance between the farmer and consumer can't exceed 150 kilometres—or in terms of the middleman. The idea is to reduce the number of middlemen between the farmer and the consumer.
We set up the local market development issue table with our partners during the COVID-19 pandemic to help us better understand the resulting issues. In the short term, insecurity and the loss of markets and immediate income were the biggest concerns, as you can well imagine. For example, ornamental horticulture wasn't considered an essential service since it wasn't part of the food service sector. I'm referring to the sale of flowers and potted plants, which, very often, are sold directly to consumers. There was definitely a feeling of insecurity.
Quebec gave U-pick businesses the go-ahead to resume on May 28, which is late in the season. A wave of insecurity swept business owners, because U-pick accounts for a significant share of their sales. What's more, they don't know whether consumers will actually show up to pick their own produce. That's one of the challenges.
The closure of bars, restaurants and similar establishments resulted in a drop in income for farms involved in those markets. Certain municipalities opted not to open farmers' markets, which are the main source of sales income for some farmers. New farms, for instance, often rely on farmers' markets. The fact that markets aren't open on Sundays has also had an impact, given that consumers tend to go there on the weekend, which is when they would interact with the farmer and build those ties. If consumers can't go to Sunday farmers' markets, it will clearly affect sales.
The entire agri-tourism sector is stalled. Businesses aren't allowed to let consumers sample their products, so sales are far from guaranteed. On top of that, special events and festivals—normally a significant revenue stream for these kinds of businesses—aren't being held.
Obviously, like traditional business owners, farmers have access to labour. Workers are recruited through programs, so worker availability and the arrival of foreign workers also factor into the mix.
As I said earlier, these businesses hire a lot of workers, so if they can't rely on foreign workers for help, it affects activities on the farm. Financially, as far as cash positions go, supplier payments have been deferred. With fewer sales, income is down. This has created some financial insecurity. If no changes are made, some business owners have told us that they won't be able to keep things going for many more months.
Nevertheless, the situation does provide some opportunities, as you can see in my opening statement.
On the whole, consumers are heeding the call to buy local. We're sensing enthusiasm for buying local products, so it's important to capitalize on that. Agri-tourism and culinary tourism also offer potential. Since Canadians will probably be spending more time in Canada this year, there is an opportunity to develop those markets and take advantage of those potential visitors. Now that people have discovered online shopping, that's another promising area to keep in mind. All of these prospects can help farm businesses sell their products.
Now, I will turn to our recommendations. A program specifically designed to help build local markets would certainly be opportune. In my speaking notes, I've listed some examples for building online sales. There are businesses that have been able to do it, but it requires a certain level of infrastructure. Some regions still don't have high-speed Internet service, which makes online sales a challenge for them.
Support for the development of local slaughterhouses requires that supply be coordinated. Reducing interprovincial trade barriers is something else we recommend. We heard one example of a farm that sells its products right around the Ontario–Quebec border, but the provincial requirements differ, so that hinders the farmer's ability to build the local market. Additional funding would also be welcome for the program to purchase surplus agri-food products for food banks. Local farmers could then take advantage of the program.
On June 2, we appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, and we shared our recommendations for business risk management programming and the Canada emergency wage subsidy. Those measures could be better tailored to farmers' needs. Obviously, it's important to assess the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic now, because it's having an impact in the short term. It will also have an impact in the longer term, however, so revisiting these issues down the road is key, because our members are likely to raise new concerns over time.
Catherine Lefebvre
View Catherine Lefebvre Profile
Catherine Lefebvre
2020-06-05 15:09
Good afternoon.
My name is Catherine Lefebvre and I am the vice-president of the Les Maraîchers L&L farm, which works in the market gardening production of beets and red cabbage, as well as in the production of transplants for other market gardeners in my region.
First, I would like to address the issue of labour, which is of great concern to us. We are a medium-sized farm that hires a total of about 20 workers, including 12 foreign workers. Currently, only seven foreign workers have arrived, and considering the time it takes to prepare the files in Mexico, we are not sure we will have the five foreign workers we need to complete our cohort.
I won't hide from you that the workers who were supposed to arrive in June are eagerly awaited for our harvests. There are still many missing. According to the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec, the Quebec Produce Growers Association, about 60% of the workers have arrived; that data is subject to verification.
I have to tell you that the programs announced to date encourage Canadians not to work or to limit their hours to 25 hours a week, which creates great obstacles for us. There is a huge cost involved to train each and every one of these employees, in addition to all the equipment needed to ensure everyone is protected.
I won't hide the fact that it currently takes us two or three Quebec employees to replace a foreign worker in terms of efficiency, but especially in terms of endurance, since they have to work between 10 and 12 hours a day. Enormous costs are generated in connection with labour, as we know full well that after a day or two of work on our farms, or a week at the most, they start looking for a less physical job. Then we have to start training other workers all over again, and everything else that entails. In addition, protective measures must be more rigorous for our Quebec workers since, given the relaxed restrictions, there are more and more outings and risks for our farms as well.
All of these measures, including the two-metre physical distancing, have a cost, as they have a direct impact on our performance and will also affect our profits during the season. Since there was no program adapted to our Quebec workers, we had to take the lead by increasing their wages to keep them on. When the COVID-19 crisis began in mid-March, we were packing beets from the previous crop, the 2019 harvest. Our work schedule at this time of year is between 35 and 40 hours a week. When the Canadian emergency response benefit, or CERB, was announced, we realized that if we wanted to motivate our troops, we would have to adapt. So we decided to round up the workers' pay so that they too would have a take-home pay of $500 a week.
We know very well that people who receive the CERB will have to pay taxes, but we had to find a way to motivate our troops to come to work rather than sit at home with their families and avoid the risks related to COVID-19. There should be a program to improve the wages of Quebec employees who get up every morning to feed people and earn more than minimum wage, in order to bridge the gap with the wages improved by all the other programs already in place.
We were also able to hire three 14-year-old students, who do not have access to any programs either, because they are not 15 years old, which is the age of eligibility for the majority of the programs in place. So I'm asking the government to change the age of eligibility, because at 14, young people are very capable of doing manual labour on a farm, whether it's weeding or tending crops. We need those who want to work, regardless of their age.
As for the 75% wage subsidy program that was announced, it does not apply to us, since we are in a production period and we will only feel the drop in income when we harvest, even though the costs related to COVID-19 and obtaining the necessary equipment are being incurred now.
Changes should also be made quickly to counter the losses caused by the measures we have had to put in place to promote the retention of our local workforce and to conduct the quarantine of our foreign workers.
I would also like to talk about the program that offers $1,500 per foreign worker. This program is intended to cover the cost of quarantine. That was changed along the way. Now it only covers the costs that have been charged to us by another company or the take-home pay of our foreign workers. It does not take into account the time spent by our staff on grocery shopping, taking temperatures, the extra needs of our workers, government deductions and renovating our facilities. The program would really have to be changed to take all that into consideration.
Aside from all the constraints we face in a normal year, whether it's the difficulty of competing on world markets or the whims of Mother Nature, we live with a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads at all times. If there's contamination on our farm, what consequences will follow?
Will we have to leave our fields for 14 days without irrigation and spraying? How can I deliver my transplants to other growers? I'd be putting their crops at risk. This would affect business and personal finances.
As market gardeners, I think we've listened to your requests. We have sown all of our fields as usual, despite the lack of labour. On the other hand, we are experiencing, day after day, a great deal of uncertainty in terms of managing the risks associated with our crops.
What about the programs that are supposed to be there to give us some respite from the turmoil we are experiencing? We have recently learned that we will have no crop insurance to cover labour shortages. When are we going to hear about the AgriStability program? I know there has been a request from the produce sector to have the AgriStability trigger set at 90% instead of 70%, and to have the payment made at 85%, but we haven't heard back from you on this.
We're constantly being asked to use the money we have in our AgriInvest accounts, but if we do, when will we get that money back to invest in our businesses at the right time? These are accounts designed to invest in our businesses, not to bail them out. If we use that money, our businesses will decline quickly or be bogged down when the time comes to buy new equipment.
The equipment needed to improve our packaging plans or harvesting equipment is very expensive. That's why we need to keep money in our AgriInvest accounts. We'll need that money the day we have to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to change broken or obsolete equipment.
We can't use this money to make up the shortfall due to the pandemic. These amounts have been accumulated over the years. We are managing our businesses well. In many cases, it has been better to borrow money to buy equipment, since we had to pay taxes in connection with the AgriInvest account. Program changes should be considered.
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