merits of establishing a Canadian Pullet Marketing Agency. The

Opening Remarks for
Public Hearing
Pullet Growers of Canada
April 23, 2013 9:00 a.m.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Brent Montgomery and I am
the Panel Chair of this public hearing. The panel has been appointed by the
Farm Products Council of Canada to examine the merits of establishing a
Canadian Pullet Marketing Agency. I am the Vice-Chairman of Council, and my
fellow panel member who is here with me this morning is John Griffin who is
also a Council member from PEI.
I would also like to introduce Duane Schippers, our legal counsel and Nathalie
Vanasse, Hearing Secretary.
Before we begin, please note that a transcript of this hearing will be produced
for the public and posted on the FPCC Website.
As I mentioned, the Council appointed this panel to conduct hearings into the
merits of establishing a Canadian Pullet Marketing Agency. The Council, as
part of its duties, must inquire into the merits of establishing an agency for any
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farm product where producer groups file requests and then proceed to make
recommendations to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in accordance to
the Farm Products Agencies Act.
In connection with such inquiries, section 8 of the Act directs the Council to
hold public hearings. While doing so, the Council has all the powers of a
commissioner appointed under Part I of the Inquiries Act.
Today, the merits of a proposal developed by the Pullet Growers of Canada will
be examined. This proposal pertains to the establishment of a Pullet Growers
Marketing Agency under Part II of the FPAA.
The notice was published in the Canada Gazette on January 12, 2013 as
required under section 9 of the Act. The notice gave the purpose and scope of
the hearing. Council’s inquiry was also advertised in weekly newspapers and
farm journals across Canada.
Le Conseil a fixé la date pour le dépôt des mémoires concernant la proposition
de création d'un office de commercialisation des poulettes. Nous avons reçu
au total 84 mémoires. Le 12 mars 2013, nous avons tenu une conférence
préparatoire.
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Toutes les personnes inscrites aujourd'hui qui feront une présentation, auront
le droit de contre-interroger les autres intervenants ainsi que le demandeur,
les Éleveurs de poulettes du Canada.
Ensuite, la priorité sera accordée à quiconque a déposé un mémoire au Conseil
dans le délai prescrit. Bien que ces personnes ne soient pas autorisées à
contre-interroger les autres intervenants, le Comité les considère bel et bien
comme des participants à l’audience. Finalement, si le temps le permet, les
autres personnes qui désirent faire connaître leur point de vue pourront se
faire entendre, à la condition qu'elles se soient inscrites plus tôt, ce matin.
Nous voulons être un Comité dynamique et poser beaucoup de questions.
Nous allons étudier cette proposition sous tous ses angles, tant du point de
vue des partisans que de celui des opposants, et nous allons examiner les
suggestions constructives quant aux changements qui pourraient être apportés
à la proposition présentée par les Éleveurs de poulettes du Canada.
Le Comité entend agir en toute équité tout au long du processus d’audience.
Nous voulons être justes à l'endroit de toutes les personnes et de tous les
groupes qui viendront témoigner et nous avons l'intention de donner à chacun
une chance égale de parler et de poser des questions.
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J'insiste sur ce point, car il s'agit de la raison d'être de l'audience publique
d’obtenir la rétroaction de tous les intervenants de l'industrie, puis, au terme
de la procédure, utiliser cette information dans le cadre de l’élaboration du
rapport.
I want to emphasize that the Panel does not make the decision in terms of
whether or not there is to be an agency. Our mandate is to make
recommendations to the Council. The process continues from there.
To return to today’s agenda, the purpose of this hearing is to hear as many
parties as possible with interest in the proposal before us and engage in
relevant and informational discussions.
To start, the Pullet Growers of Canada will make a presentation, which you will
be able to follow on the screens in both English and French. Mr. Griffin and I
will then proceed with our questions to the Applicant. Participants scheduled
on the agenda will present from the table on my right, and will be given an
opportunity to question the Applicant as well as other participants, who will
answer from the standing microphone in the audience. We want this to be an
open forum.
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Please be mindful that transcriptions will be produced and it is therefore
important that we each speak one-at-a-time. Furthermore, all participants
should be courteous and respectful when asking questions. I may refuse to
permit further questioning from an individual who is being discourteous or
disrespectful. I encourage you to be clear and concise.
Once the portion of the scheduled speakers is complete, we will open the floor
to registered participants. If you wish to address this Panel and have not yet
registered, please do so at the Registration table in the hallway.
The public examination file that contains all of the submissions and letters of
opinion received is also available next door in our Consultation Room as well
as on our website. Evidence tabled during this hearing will be added to the
public file as we go, including the transcripts.
I will now invite the Hearing Secretary, Nathalie Vanasse, to explain the
procedures we will be following.
Thank you.
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