Agriculture and Agri-Food

Opening remarks

As president of the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec, I would like to reiterate our support for the grocery sector code of conduct, which, for us, is essential. Mr. Léger Bourgoin told you about the major trends that are harmful to producers. Let me tell you about real-life situations, experienced this summer, that make this code a necessity. A producer called me in tears because a major chain was threatening him with reprisals, since the drought conditions in Quebec meant that he was unable to deliver the volumes that met the technical specifications. The same major chain had substantially increased its administrative costs, which had nearly doubled for some producers. I requested a meeting with the chain, which refused to meet with me under the vague pretext of an issue related to the Competition Act. Just a few days ago, another major chain asked producers to guarantee farm gate prices and sales volumes for the next two years. That request just doesn't make sense. Produce growers don't have an assembly line where vegetables are assembled in a closed circuit. They work with living things, in fields that are fully exposed to unpredictable weather. Current…

Opening remarks

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to appear here today. I speak to you as the CEO of Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada and also in my role as chair of the board for the Office of the Grocery Sector Code of Conduct. Over the past nine years with FHCP, I've been a consistent advocate for the creation of a grocery code. I've dedicated time and energy to advancing this work, from serving on the original steering committee and helping lead the development of the actual code to supporting its governance as part of the board of directors. This has been a long and complex process. It's been four years since the federal government publicly backed the need for a code and, throughout that time, we've appreciated the support of multiple ministers of agriculture and their provincial counterparts. I also want to thank this committee for its steady backing, which has been key to helping move this initiative forward. Let me be clear about what we've accomplished and what remains. We have successfully established the office and appointed an exceptional leader, Karen Proud, as our first code office president and adjudicator. Karen has implemented a…

Opening remarks

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for agreeing to study this issue, which is extremely important for our sector. My name is Massimo Bergamini, and I am the executive director of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada. Through our 80-plus members, FVGC represents growers across the country, which are producing more than 120 different crops on over 14,000 farms. My comments will focus on a fundamental flaw in the design of the grocery code of conduct and offer what we believe is a simple and practical solution. Let me begin by stating the obvious: Growers want a fair, competitive and transparent marketplace. In theory, the grocery code of conduct and the office that administers it represent an important step toward that goal. In practice, however, it may be another matter. The problem is simple. The code's dispute resolution architecture relies on individual suppliers bringing individual complaints about retailer conduct. On its face, this may look reasonable. In practice, however, it may be unworkable. Canada's grocery supply chain is vast and complex. Many of the practices deemed problematic by the growers we represent are systemic and affect dozens or…