Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be the focal point of the next agricultural policy framework when the five-year Canadian Agricultural Partnership ends in 2023.
Provincial and territorial ministers met with their federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau this week to check in prior to the annual in-person conference scheduled for Saskatoon in July.
Bibeau told Country Life in BC that she expects the new policy framework to be signed in July.
“A significant part of the programming will have a direct impact on emission reduction,” she says.
She said it’s still too early to pin a value on the policy framework. The current framework set forth programming worth approximately $3 billion.
“We’re still working on the dollar figure,” she says, noting that the key goal right now is agreeing on common objectives for emission reductions. “It’s too early to share anything regarding the framework.”
This week’s meeting also discussed ongoing issues, including progress towards a retail code of conduct, also expected to be finalized in July, and avian influenza.
Bibeau also said supply-managed sectors can expect firm word on compensation for market access concessions granted under CUSMA, which replaced NAFTA in 2020, in October as part of the fall economic update.
While acknowledging that the announcement won’t fall within the first year of the current Liberal mandate, as promised during the 2019 election, Bibeau said dairy farmers – who have expressed concern – know that money is coming.
“This is what has been written clearly in the last budget. You will see the compensation for dairy, poultry and eggs in the fall economic statement,” she says.
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