Question Period Note: Fall Economic Statement 2023

Q1 – How is the 2023 Fall Economic Statement supporting food security for vulnerable Canadians with rising food prices? Q2 – How is the Government supporting producers impacted by extreme situations, such as wildfires and droughts? Q3 – What more is being done to support the creation of a Canada Water Agency? Q4 –What measures, included in Budget 2023 and Budget 2024, were taken to advance the Right to Repair and what is the current status of planned consultations on the framework?

R.1 - In the FES 2023, the government committed to ensuring that Canada’s largest grocers stabilize grocery prices.
This complements previously announced measures to address food security barriers for vulnerable Canadians, such as the $2.5 billion Grocery Rebate that provided targeted inflation relief to Canadians who have been struggling to afford the rising cost of food. R.2 - On October 20, 2023, the government announced a contribution of $219 million to support farmers and ranchers in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan who are dealing with extraordinary costs due to drought conditions and wildfires.
This funding will help them recover and ensure that they have the tools they need to continue to be resilient in the face of natural disasters and extreme weather events.
Federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture are committed to working together to ensure producers have access to a full suite of business risk management programs that are timely and reliable. R.3 - Budget 2023 provided $85.1 million over 5 years to create a new standalone Canada Water Agency and $650 million over 10 years to implement a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan. This will support clean-up efforts in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and the Fraser River, among others.

The bill to implement the provisions in FES 2023 contained legislation to enact the Canada Water Agency Act. R.4 - Budget 2023 announced that the federal government will work to implement a Right to Repair, with the aim of introducing a targeted framework in 2024.

In FES 2023, the federal government announced amendments to the Competition
Act in order to prevent manufacturers from refusing, in an anti-competitive manner, to provide the parts, tools, or software needed to fix devices and products.

Building on this progress, Budget 2024 announced that the government will launch consultations in June 2024 to develop a right to repair framework, which will focus on durability, repairability, and interoperability. The federal government is also calling on provinces and territories to amend their contract laws to support a right to repair and
interoperability.

Farm Credit Canada (FCC)
FCC is a Crown corporation that provides specialized and personalized business and financial services and products to the agriculture and food industry. With a portfolio of more than $47.9 billion in loans (March 31, 2023), FCC is Canada’s largest provider of capital to agriculture, agri-business, and food producers.

FCC is self-sustaining and is not dependent on government appropriations. Funds to support its operations are borrowed directly from the Government of Canada under the Consolidated Borrowing Program, which must be approved by the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board.

Canada Water Agency
Budget 2023 provided $85.1 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, with $0.4 million in remaining amortization and $21 million ongoing thereafter to support the creation of the Canada Water Agency within Environment and Climate Change Canada. It was created to work together with the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists, and others to keep our water safe, clean and well-managed.

FES 2023 implementation legislation introduced the Canada Water Agency Act to establish the standalone Canada Water Agency. Supporting this initiative is a mandate letter commitment for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Grocery Prices
Through Budget 2023, the government provided a one-time Grocery Rebate, of up to $467 for a family of four, to approximately 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians.

The government has also secured agreements from Canada’s largest grocers and food processors to help stabilize prices, and in September 2023, introduced legislation to amend the Competition Act in order to enhance competition, particularly in the grocery sector.

Drought and Wildfires – Business Risk Management Support
Business Risk Management (BRM) programs are joint Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) programs that help producers manage risks that threaten the viability of their farms and provide protection against different types of income and production losses. Producers take responsibility for managing normal risks, while government support is in place to help manage events that exceed producers’ capacity to manage. The FPT programs are cost-shared 60:40 and have provided over $1.8 billion per year on average to producers over the last five years.

Right to Repair
High repair fees and a lack of access to specific parts for broken farm machinery, appliances or consumer electronics often mean Canadians are pushed to buy new products rather than repairing the ones they already have. This is expensive for consumers and creates harmful waste. Right to Repair calls for consumers to be able to choose any repairer they wish or repair their own products, providing them with a choice in how much they want to pay, quality of service and convenience. For this to happen, manufacturers would have to make parts, tools, and repair manuals available to both consumers and repairers.

• The 2023 Fall Economic Statement (FES) outlined a responsible fiscal plan that focused on making life more affordable for Canadians.

• It included measures that will help the agriculture sector, including improving the right to repair, and launching a process to increase the risk appetite of Farm Credit Canada.

• We also support the sector through our business risk management programs which help producers face extreme climate events, market disruptions, and the threat of pests and diseases.

• We have taken another step towards fulfilling a mandate letter commitment with the introduction of the Canada Water Agency Act, which will contribute to sustainable and coordinated freshwater management across Canada.