The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food met on June 4, 2026, to continue its study on food security in the face of global instability. Witnesses included Donald Killorn (Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture), Tim Livingstone (Strawberry Hill Farm), Karine Bercier (Ferme Agriber Inc.), Krista Shaw and Greg Donald (Prince Edward Island Potato Board), Tina Bishop and Fred Marshall (Community Food Sharing Association), and Christian Bibeau (Moisson Estrie).
Donald Killorn argued that food security depends on a complex system beyond just production, and he advocated for a $150-million investment in a sovereign agricultural compute strategy to keep farm data under Canadian control, reduce energy use for AI in agriculture, and improve decision-making across the food system. He noted that this approach would also support business risk management by enabling parametric insurance and faster program payments.
Tim Livingstone described bureaucratic barriers facing new farms, including overlapping audits for organic certification, poultry production, and safe food regulations, and the difficulty of supplying grocery chains without a viable price or warehouse investment. He recommended streamlining regulations and improving cross-communication between government bodies, and he stressed the importance of the temporary foreign worker program and on-farm research support.
Karine Bercier emphasized that food security begins with protecting productive farmland and investing in seed genetics, and she called for a food security impact assessment for all major infrastructure projects. She expressed deep concern about the Alto high-speed rail project, saying it has eroded farmer confidence and forced her to pause investment plans, and she noted that federal subsidies for green manure could help build long-term soil resilience.
Krista Shaw and Greg Donald highlighted that Canadian farmers face rising input costs, labour shortages, and regulatory delays, particularly in pesticide approvals and drone technology adoption. They urged the government to make food security a central lens in federal decisions, remove tariffs on fertilizer imports, and ensure timely access to crop protection tools to maintain competitiveness and domestic food supply.
Tina Bishop and Fred Marshall described how geography, high living costs, and reliance on 90% food imports make Newfoundland and Labrador especially vulnerable to global instability. They called for federal leadership on affordability and income supports, and they noted that a new purpose-built food distribution centre is essential to expand storage, reduce waste, and improve emergency response capacity.
Christian Bibeau reported that 46% of food in Canada is wasted annually, worth $58 billion, and he proposed a national 150% tax deduction for food donations, similar to Quebec’s model, to encourage producers to donate meat and produce that would otherwise be discarded. He also emphasized the need for infrastructure funding for food banks and community-based initiatives to recover ugly produce and compromised animals.
The committee agreed to invite the minister to appear on June 18, 2026, or in the first two weeks after Parliament reconvenes in September.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.