Canada’s ag ministers were supposed to gather in Guelph in July
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A summer meeting of Canada’s agriculture ministers has been postponed until the fall.
Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts were scheduled to meet this July in Guelph for the annual Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers Conference.
The event will now take place Oct. 14-16 because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
“The decision to postpone the formal annual meeting from July to October was made by both the federal government and the host province of Ontario, considering that all governments are already collaborating well on emergency measures, and respecting the current public health advice to stay home as much as possible to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Canada,” Minister Bibeau told Farms.com in an emailed statement.
Canada's agriculture ministers.
Industry organizations are concerned with the timing of the postponement.
Delaying the meeting could set back important discussions on industry supports at a time when they are needed, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said.
“We’re aware of the postponement and are concerned that it may delay critical discussions on business risk management (BRM) programs,” the organization told Farms.com in an emailed statement. “However, we know there is still significant (ministerial) interaction underway and would expect that discussions around immediate needs and associated supports, such as BRM programming reforms, could still be addressed in the interim due to their urgency.”
Canada’s agriculture ministers hold weekly conference calls to discuss how to best support the sector during the pandemic and beyond, Bibeau said.