Federal Elections 2019: Where the parties stand on food issues

Le Bloc Québécois compte s’attaquer indirectement à l’insécurité alimentaire en réduisant de manière globale la pauvreté. Nous exigeons un réinvestissement du fédéral dans le logement social et abordable jusqu’à l’atteinte de 1 % du budget total d’Ottawa, soit 3 milliards $, puis le transfert au Québec de sa part pour des mises en chantier rapides.

Nous comptons faire pression sur Ottawa pour la réduction des prix des médicaments en retirant les États-Unis de la liste de comparaison permettant de fixer les prix. Nous allons maintenir le programme d’Allocation canadienne pour enfants. Nous allons exiger une bonification du programme d’assurance-emploi et un accès plus facile pour tous les travailleurs et les travailleuses qui en ont besoin. Nous allons favoriser le travail des aînés sans pénalité dans leurs prestations de Supplément de revenu garanti et, en collaboration avec les Premières Nations et les Inuit, créer des incitatifs pour le travail des Autochtones.

Le Bloc fait de la lutte à la pauvreté une priorité et estimons qu’elle est la pierre angulaire de la lutte contre l’insécurité alimentaire.

As citizens of a wealthy nation with a high standard of living, Canadians should not be going hungry. Yet, 4 million Canadians are food insecure. We must start by recommitting to a vision of Canada as a just society built around a progressive, fair, and compassionate social safety network. 

The Green Party believes reducing child poverty is more important than allowing our richest citizens to get richer. Reducing child poverty starts with a stronger commitment to guaranteeing that all families have the ability to provide for their children. It is time to revisit a major policy initiative − Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) for all. The use of a GLI could eliminate poverty and allow social services to concentrate on problems of mental health and addiction. The principle of the GLI is simple: to establish an income floor below which no Canadian could fall, but with incentives for recipients to continue working and to earn more. 

Through a Council of Canadian Governments we will work with the other levels of government whose inadequate poverty band­aid solutions can be rolled up in order to fund the GLI.

The Liberal Party recognizes that our food system is not perfect, that 4 million Canadians are facing food insecurity, and that too many Canadians, particularly low-income and Indigenous Canadians, are not able to reliably access sufficient amounts of affordable, healthy food.

Our government’s $134 million investment through the new Food Policy for Canada is a first step and roadmap to building a healthier and more sustainable food system in Canada. The $50 million Local Food Infrastructure Fund, the most significant investment in the new Food Policy for Canada, will support a wide range of community-led projects to increase access to safe, healthy, diverse food sources. The $15 million Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund will support community-led projects like greenhouses, community freezers, and skills training to strengthen indigenous food systems, and combat significant challenges in accessing nutritious food in Canada’s North. We will also move forward in partnership with provinces and territories to establish a national school nutrition program so that all Canadian kids go to school they are best prepared to focus on what matters - learning.

 If re-elected, improving food security, promoting good health and encouraging a sustainable food system will remain key priorities, in order to meet our commitment to the SDGs.

New Democrats believe that all Canadians should have access to nutritious, culturally-appropriate food – and that ending food insecurity is a vital and urgent part of addressing Poverty. To address Canada’s unacceptable ranking by UNICEF of 37 out of 41 for children’s access to nutritious food, the NDP will also partner with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities to create a national school nutrition program to bring Canada in line with our peers around the world. 

Working towards the goal of eradicating poverty and addressing intersecting challenges like food insecurity means that we have to take bold action to help where Canadians are struggling most. That means creating better services to save Canadian households money and lift families out of poverty – like a universal public pharmacare program, affordable housing, and universal public child care. With many Canadians facing impossible choices between affording life-saving medication and making their sky-rocketing rent and child care payments, we need a comprehensive approach to these intersecting experiences of income insecurity.

A New Democrat government would fight poverty by allocating new funds, implementing new programs, improving existing programs, and revising the timetable to meet our 50 percent goal within 5 years. This would include using the Low Income Measure to allow for international comparisons on poverty rates; expanding access to public transit in communities across the country and working with municipalities towards fare-free transit; making sure that Canadians can find an affordable place to call home, no matter where they live; setting a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour to set a national standard for workers; tackling the racialized and gendered wage gap with immediate pro-active pay equity legislation and regulations; prioritizing the most marginalized communities – women, persons living with disabilities, Indigenous peoples – in anti-poverty efforts; implementing income tax changes to allow for better and more equitable redistribution; amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include “social condition” to address and end socio-economic discrimination; strengthening public pensions; and overhauling and improving access to Employment Insurance.

The NDP also believes it is time for a national basic income pilot project to continue the important work started by the Ontario pilot.

Encore une fois, la réduction de la pauvreté en général et l’amélioration des conditions de vie comptera pour beaucoup. Nous proposons également une refonte du programme Nutrition Nord pour le rendre efficace, de concert avec les Premières Nations et les Inuit.

The Green Party is committed to food sovereignty, to ensure that food policies are developed closely with affected communities, with their needs at the forefront. All Canadians, regardless of where they live, deserve the right to choose healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate foods. For many Indigenous communities, this includes access to country food, obtained through hunting or trapping.

In addition to the move towards a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI), the Green Party will replace the inadequate Nutrition North program, and support the construction of greenhouses in the North, to increase northern and Indigenous food sovereignty and make food more affordable.

First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities are some of our country’s most vulnerable communities, which is why our party announced funding dedicated to serve these predominantly northern and isolated communities.

The Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund will help fund innovative and practical solutions to increase food security across the North, together with other federal and northern partners. It is intended to support local, community-led projects that reduce dependence on the southern food industry and the associated costs (e.g. transportation and storage) for northern isolated communities. 

In government, we have also invested new funds in the Nutrition North Canada program. This ongoing investment will support several program changes, and introduces a new Harvesters Support Grant to help lower the high costs associated with traditional hunting and harvesting activities.

These and other parts of the Food Policy for Canada will, going forward, provide for new approaches to improving food security and in the North and in Indigenous communities across the country.

Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is a cornerstone of the New Democrat vision – and within that, achieving Indigenous food sovereignty is a critical component. An NDP government would work in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities to expand access to healthy food, including traditional and country foods and work together with northern communities to reform the Nutrition North program so that it works for families in the north.

We will work with Indigenous communities to ensure that a national school nutrition program responds to the food security needs that communities have expressed, that it expands access to culturally appropriate foods for all Indigenous children, will full respect for Indigenous food sovereignty.

The New Democrats are committed to working to close the health gap for Indigenous communities – and these means ending the high rates of food insecurity in many Northern Indigenous communities in partnership with the communities themselves. In addition, every community must be able to count on clean and safe drinking water.

We will make the investments required to ensure clean water and lift all drinking water advisories for good by 2021, and support Indigenous-led water management training programs and water system operations as an immediate priority.

L’éducation étant une compétence exclusive du Québec et des provinces, le Bloc Québécois ne proposera pas de programme universel de saine alimentation scolaire. Nous estimons qu’un tel programme ne ferait que dédoubler ou compliquer les initiatives déjà existantes du Québec. Nous souhaitons toutefois une hausse des transferts en éducation et services sociaux pour le Québec et les provinces.

Canada remains one of the few industrialized countries without a national school food program. Our current patchwork of school food programming reaches only a small percentage of our over 5 million students. The Green Party will establish a federally funded, community-­guided school lunch program across Canada to make sure that our children have daily access to healthy local food and are able to focus fully on their education. We would envisage this happening within four Years.

Our government was very pleased to announce in the most recent budget our intention to work with the provinces and territories towards the creation of a National School Food Program, to help improve the overall health of our children as they learn, leading to better futures for them, and ultimately for our country.

The Liberal Party believes it critically important for a child’s education to ensure that they have healthy meals before and during school. However, Canada currently has a mix of different school breakfast and lunch programs that leave many children hungry, undernourished, or eating unhealthy foods too often. We will work with the provinces and territories to bring forward a workable national plan.

No child should have to learn on an empty stomach. Canada remains an anomaly among advanced economies because of our lack of a national school food program. The NDP will immediately begin working with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities to create a national school nutrition program to bring Canada in line with our peers around the world to give every child in Canada access to healthy, culturally-appropriate food and food literacy skills for life.

Nous sommes d’accord avec cette initiative et collaborerons pour assurer la meilleure alimentation possible et l’accès à toute l’information nécessaire pour tous les Québécois, les Québécoises, les Canadiens et les Canadiennes.

In the 42nd Parliament, Green MPs made it a priority to consult extensively with affected stakeholder groups throughout the legislative process. We will continue to draw on the expertise of civil society organizations in developing national policy and fully support the formation of an adequately funded, cross-sectoral National Food Policy Council to inform food policy.

Our Party would first like to recognize the advocacy efforts of Food Secure Canada in advancing initiatives like the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council. Without dedicated and focused stakeholders on issues like food security and healthy eating, an initiative like this may never have come to fruition. It will be important, in our party’s view to bring together the expertise and diversity within the food system to address both the challenges of today and the future, including advocacy organizations such as Food Secure Canada.

We also believe that the Council should include a diversity of members from the agriculture and food industry, health professionals, academia, non-profit organizations, and Indigenous organizations. Consideration of applicants to the Council should also ensure representation on includes youth, women, and visible minorities, among others.

New Democrats will ensure that the council includes diverse participation to ensure the best possible advice on food policy in Canada. This must include food producers and processors, experts in environment, health and food security, Indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations, and community advocates.

Nous sommes en faveur de campagnes d’information sur les saines habitudes de vie et proposons des crédits d’impôt pour l’activité physique et le sport. Nous exigeons également le rétablissement des hausses de transferts en santé à 6 % annuellement pour mettre fin au désinvestissement fédéral dans les coûts des soins.

Diet related diseases cost our healthcare system an estimated $26 billion annually. The Green Party believes that healthier eating habits, better food skills and an increased understanding of where our food comes from is critical to our future. We support the implementation of a Universal Healthy School Food Program and related education efforts to supply healthy food to Canada’s next generation, and a Guaranteed Livable Income and food-waste prevention policies to make healthy food more affordable.

The Liberal Party wants to help make the healthy choice, the easy choice for all Canadians.

That’s why we launched our Healthy Eating Strategy in October 2016, which consisted of four elements:

• banning industrial trans fats, which came into effect in September 2018;
• updating Canada’s Food Guide with the latest nutritional knowledge; which happened in January;
• introducing front-of-pack labelling so Canadians have clear facts;
• restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

We will continue working with our partners to implement the Healthy Eating Strategy and ensure all Canadians have access to healthy food.

Earlier this year, our government was thrilled to unveil Canada’s new Food Guide; updated for the first time since 2007. The new Food Guide is more advanced, affordable and applicable than ever, replacing the “one size fits all” approach with a dynamic tool reflecting today’s Canada, with an online suite of resources and clear advice for all Canadians to make healthier eating choices.

The new Guide is driven by dietitians, not politicians, and evidence, not industry. It gives Canadians the tools to eat healthy by placing more focus on what, when and how we eat, and less on food groups and servings. We believe that this will help in improving diets for many Canadians, relieving some of the stresses placed on our health care system by diet-related disease.

New Democrats believe that supporting our local food systems is essential to ensuring that Canadians have access to healthy, affordable food. We’ll work to connect Canadians to farmers with initiatives like local food hubs, community supported agriculture, and networks to increase the amount of food that is sold, processed, and consumed in local and regional markets. The NDP vision for a National Food Policy includes helping Canadians choose products that are healthier for them.

The NDP applauded the release of the newest version of Canada’s Food Guide which included evidence-based recommendations for healthy eating, but noted that many Canadians are unable to afford the healthy and nutritious foods recommended by the guide. Guaranteeing universal access through a national school nutrition program, ensuring that food literacy is taught early, and making sure that every child has access to the food they need to grow and learn is a key first step to promoting healthy eating throughout the lives of Canadians.

Notre parti est en faveur de la modification des techniques de culture et s’est engagé pour un retrait des pesticides de la famille des néonicotinoïdes. Nous proposons que 300 M$ soient investis sur quatre ans en recherche et en soutien pour les agriculteurs qui feront la transition.

Nous constatons que l’agriculture représente une grande part des émissions de gaz à effet de serre au Québec et appuyons pleinement les producteurs agricoles qui prennent un virage vert. Toutefois, nous ne perdons pas de vue qu’ils ne sont pas les principaux pollueurs et concentrons nos efforts pour mettre fin à l’exploitation des sables bitumineux et l’électrification des transports.

The Green Party recognizes that a transition to agroecology is needed to optimize the performance and resilience of food production systems through natural processes and techniques such as crop diversification and rotation, soil and water conservation, agroforestry, and animal integration. Proper soil management is an important tool of carbon sequestration. We need to regenerate healthy soil, and deal with methane and nitrous oxide in agriculture, if we are to meet our climate commitments and successfully respond to the climate emergency.

The Green Party will promote measures to reduce carbon emissions in agriculture, and provide federal assistance with the development of agricultural products that meet the new reality of our changing climate. The Green party will  [be] promoting organic and urban farming and Food Security. The Green Party will advocate for a greater climate focus within the World Trade Organization, in order to establish trade regimes that reduce the carbon miles associated with food production. Tariff levels should be established based on the carbon miles of the product in question, calibrated with the availability of the same product domestically. Redundant shipments – trucks loaded with tomatoes passing each other on our north-south highways – should be largely eliminated.

The Liberal Party believes climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and taking action to tackle it will require engagement from all parts of society. Canadian farmers have long been responsible stewards of the land, and they will continue to be part of the climate change solution. 

Since 2016, our government has invested over $175 million in support of that and hired 75 new scientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), with a focus on addressing climate change and soil and water conservation. The significant role that farmers and soils can play in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is recognized in several other domestic policy initiatives. 

 For example, the Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which was adopted in December 2016, makes a commitment for federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work together to protect and enhance carbon sinks, including in forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands. Their role is further enforced by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, launched in April 2018, in which FPT ministers of agriculture agreed to help producers address soil and water conservation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to climate change.

In government, we have undertaken a number of activities to enable the adoption of practices that benefit soil health. For example, under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, up to $436 million in cost shared funding (with provinces and territories) is available for beneficial management practices. One specific initiative we have championed is the $27-million federal Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program, a partnership with universities and conservation groups across Canada that supports 20 research projects into greenhouse gas mitigation practices and technologies that can be adopted on the farm.

Another is the Agricultural Clean Technology Program is a three-year $25-million investment helping Canadian farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the development and adoption of clean technologies focused on bioproducts and precision agriculture.

 Our party is also fully committed to Canada’s hardworking organic farmers. We have invested nearly $20 million in support of the organic sector since taking [office in] 2016 and we fully recognize the importance of updating the Canadian Organic Standards.

New Democrats know that farmers and agricultural workers are already facing significant challenges in their work. And now, unpredictable and extreme weather are on the rise and we are starting to the escalating impacts of climate change.

The way we grow crops, raise livestock, and use food also has an impact on our climate future and nutrition for all Canadians. Government must play an important role in helping our food system adapt to the changing climate and our farming future must be one that sees conventional and organic farming methods coming together with agroecological intensification of existing farmland and the adoption of new technologies.

A New Democrat government will invest in farming communities to make sure that they’re ready to respond to climate change. That means working with Canadian farmers to promote land-management techniques and methods to increase carbon sequestration and reduce GHG emissions. We will also invest in public agricultural research and plant breeding to support innovation and provide direct economic benefit to farmers.

We’ll work to connect communities to farmers through local food hubs and develop a national food waste strategy to reduce the huge amounts of food that currently go to waste in Canada. A New Democrat government will also partner with farmers and communities to support biodiversity and to monitor and protect pollinator health to achieve a sustainable and adaptable food system.

With transformation of our food-system techniques, it’s possible to mitigate and potentially reverse the effects of climate change – and the implementation of regenerative agricultural practices, along with transitioning to sustainable, clean, energy resources, must be part of our plan to tackle the climate emergency.

Notre parti se veut le meilleur allié des producteurs agricoles. Nous nous sommes engagés à déposer une loi interdisant toute future brèche dans la gestion de l’offre dans les accords commerciaux. Nous menons, en étroite collaboration avec les agriculteurs, la lutte pour qu’ils soient indemnisés entièrement pour les récentes brèches dans les ententes avec l’Europe, la zone Pacifique et l’Amérique du Nord. Nous avons proposé un éventail de mesures pour favoriser la relève agricole. Notamment, nous faisons la promotion d’un congé de cotisation de 5 ans aux programmes Agri-stabilité et Agriprotection ainsi qu’un dépôt de lancement pour la mise de fonds sous forme de prêt sans intérêt.

Nous souhaitons un élargissement à la famille élargie d’une exemption permettant de limiter le gain en capital imposable lors de la vente ou la cession d’une ferme et de rendre aussi avantageux la vente d’actions d’une société agricole à un membre de la famille qu’à un tiers. Nous proposons également la création d’un régime d’épargne-transfert agricole afin de permettre aux producteurs d’accumuler un fonds de retraite à l’abri de l’impôt ainsi que le transfert d’une enveloppe récurrente au gouvernement du Québec pour favoriser la relève agricole.

Agriculture is Canada’s largest use of land and has an important impact on the economy, climate change, and the environment. Responsible agriculture policy can increase family farm income, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore lost ecosystems while producing high quality food for Canadians and for export. Canadian farmers face huge obstacles. Many farmers cannot survive on farm income.

Markets for local and organic food are growing rapidly, and a new generation of young Canadians want to try their hand at farming, yet starting out remains a daunting prospect, requiring financial risk that many young would­ be farmers are unwilling to take. We believe that Canadians who want to enter into agriculture should be supported.

The Green Party will increase market share by replacing one third of Canada’s food imports with domestic production, bringing $15 Billion food dollars back into our economy, fostering economic diversification and rural revitalization. The Green Party will work with large grocery retailers to ensure monopolistic practices, charging of fees for product placement, cease to be used to undermine local food production. If cooperation is not evident, anti-trust legislation will be revamped.

The Green Party will help new and young farmers by investing $ 2.5 million per year into the creation of a land and quota trust program to help farmers succeed. The Green Party will increase the lifetime capital gains exemption of qualified farm properties to facilitate the transfer of farm assets from one generation to the next.

The Green Party will establish an Agricultural Education Fund to provide grants for young and new farmers and support participation in farm apprenticeship programs.The Green Party will work with provinces to reduce the excessive levels of regulation on local agriculture that lets global agriculture off the hook.

Under the new Food Policy, our government introduced a number of new federal initiatives that should support new farmers or the next generation of farmers.

A significant part of this, which will help support farmers at the community level, in addition to consumers in smaller communities, is the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. This fund is primarily targeted to smaller organizations, but will improve access to infrastructure and purchase equipment. We have already moved to a second phase of this initiative, where applicants could receive up to $250,000 in non-repayable assistance for capital and food equipment.

Our government has also launched a three-year immigration pilot to bring in full-time, non-seasonal agricultural workers that will include a pathway to permanent residency, which will assist farmers with labour shortages or training gaps.

The Liberal Party will continue to support initiatives like these and others if re-elected, working to make a better food system all across the country, including for new farmers who need a head start to succeed.

New Democrats know that agriculture is the backbone of our economy. It keeps rural communities strong, supports thousands of families, and produces the fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, eggs, and meat that feed millions of Canadians. Food is at the heart of our homes, our economy, and our communities – but farmers and agricultural workers are facing numerous challenges and devastating decisions by government. An NDP government would re-commit to fully protecting supply management, ensuring reciprocity in all trade negotiations, and supporting our supply managed sectors as they innovate and grow. We’ll support farmers and workers in rural communities by delivering better services – like high speed broadband communications infrastructure. We’ll make it easier for young people and women to get into agriculture by working with provinces to improve training opportunities across the country, provide low-cost start-up loans for new farmers, and provide support for succession planning while also ending the unfair tax treatment of family farm transfers – making it easier for family farms to stay in the family.

To keep Canadian agriculture on the cutting edge of knowledge and innovation, and provide direct economic benefit to our farmers, New Democrats will invest in public agricultural research and data collection. Our fresh fruit and vegetable producers grow healthy, nutritious food for Canadian families and they support local economies across the country. Many of them also depend on the ability to export their products to buyers in the U.S., but without a reciprocal payment protection program in place, the financial risks of exporting can be too high. That’s why New Democrats will introduce a payment protection program for produce growers and take immediate steps to restore protection for growers selling to the U.S. under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

Finally, to build on the pride and quality of Canadian agricultural products, we’ll work with producers along the supply chain to increase the amount of Canadian food that is sold, processed, and consumed in local and regional markets to strengthen the entire food system to support the newest generation of farmers.

Le Bloc soutient et fait la promotion de l’achat local sur toutes ses tribunes. Nous sommes fiers de nos agriculteurs, de leurs produits de qualité supérieure et de nos régions. Nous appuyons pleinement ce principe et en revendiquons l’application dans toutes les institutions publiques fédérales.

Yes. The Green Party would support this with the Universal Healthy School Food Program and by working through the Council of Canadian Governments and Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council to develop new procurement rules for public institutions.

While there would be obvious limitations due to the federal-provincial relationship in this regard, at the federal level we have implemented some policies to try and champion local and sustainable food procurement, such as the Local Food Infrastructure Fund.

We have taken the first steps alongside provinces and not-for profit organizations towards the creation of a National School Food Program, to help improve the overall health of our children and improve upon the current inconsistent and unhealthy approach across the country and ages.

New Democrats know that supporting our local food systems is essential to ensuring that Canadians have access to healthy, affordable food.

Public institutions are an important part of that. Our national school nutrition program would aim to be integrated with local food producers, giving students the chance to learn about local food and build those connections early in life. New Democrats support procurement that will, as [much] as possible, work with the provinces, territories and Indigenous governments to put Canadian food on the menu in public institutions.

In addition, we will connect Canadians to farmers with initiatives like local food hubs, community supported agriculture, and networks to increase the amount of food that is sold, processed, and consumed in local and regional markets.