Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food (AGRI)

This week the committee finished its study of the supply chain of red meat products, and undertook a study of Bill S-11, the “Safe Foods for Canadians Act”. The October 23rd meeting was undertaken ‘in camera’, but the October 25th meeting saw the Committee meet publicly for the first time since the XL Foods beef recall.

The public meeting had witnesses from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency come to speak to the Committee, but most testimony was delivered by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. He discussed the government’s response to the XL Foods beef recall, and explained changes to Canada’s food safety and inspection regime manifest in Bill S-11, the “Safe Foods for Canadians Act”. Following his presentation on these two topics the Minister fielded questions from both government and opposition members of the committee.

Following the televised part of the October 25th meeting, the committee resumed ‘in camera’ to discuss future committee business and to adopt two motions. The first motion was for the committee to continue its study of Bill S-11, and to invite witnesses to discuss the topic during the upcoming meetings October 29th and November 1st 2012.

The second motion adopted was to undertake a study on changes to the Canada Grains Act that would be introduced with the implementation of Bill C-45, and to hear from witnesses on the topic during a special meeting time of Tuesday, November 6th 2012 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Following adoption of these two motions the committee chair adjourned the meeting. You can find the Minutes here.