Ottawa, Ontario, September 5, 2012 - Canadians have spoken on the future direction of agriculture and Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments have listened, said Canada's Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today. A wide variety of views have been heard and taken into account in discussions and negotiations on the new five-year framework, currently being finalized between federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments.
"I wish to extend my thanks to the industry for inputting into the policy development over the past two years and throughout this past summer," said Minister Ritz. "Building on these, and what industry told FPT governments directly, the aim is to balance the risk between governments and producers while ensuring we are investing strategically to promote sector competitiveness."
Since May 2010, FPT Ministers and departments have conducted:
- A series of online and face-to-face national and provincial engagement sessions with farmers, processors, distributors and manufacturers, including national organizations and formal advisory groups;
- Dozens of farmer roundtables across the country by Ministers, federal parliamentarians, as well as departmental officials
- One-on-one meetings with Canadian industry leadership and their provincial members;
- Annual meetings between FPT Ministers, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and leading farm groups; and
- The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food (SCAAF) held five months-worth of hearings covering 24 meetings and 119 industry stakeholders who delivered over 40 hours of testimony on suggestions for the path forward.
Additional reports by organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), George Morris Center and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) have also provided valuable input which will inform the development of agricultural policies and programs.
FPT Ministers aim to reach agreement on the new framework at the next Ministers meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon, on September 12-14. FPT Ministers are committed to continuing the dialogue with the sector well past the Yukon meeting. Ongoing dialogue with producers and Canadians will continue to shape governments' policies and programs in agriculture and agri-food.
For more information on Growing Forward consultations, visit agriculture.canada.ca/growingforward2.
For more information, media may contact:
Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
613-773-7972
1-866-345-7972
Meagan Murdoch
Director of Communications
The Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz
613-773-1059
