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CPMA Recommendations included in 2018 pre-Budget Report of the Standing Committee on Finance

By User Admin posted 12-13-2017 15:54

  
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December 12, 2017

2018 pre-Budget Report of the Standing Committee on Finance adopts two recommendations from CPMA
 

CPMA is pleased that the Standing Committee on Finance has included two recommendations from CPMA’s pre-Budget submission for consideration by the Minister of Finance in the development of Budget 2018. Firstly, the committee has recommended the introduction of a trusted employer program, developed by CPMA and the Canadian Horticultural Council, that would expedite the hiring process for qualified employers that have maintained good standing with the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), and secondly, that the Federal Government create a Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) –like deemed trust in Canada.

“We are thrilled that the committee has elected to include two of our recommendations,” states Ron Lemaire, CPMA President. “We are committed to working with the Minister of Finance and other relevant ministers to advance these policy issues in the hopes that they are included in Budget 2018. We strongly believe that a trusted employer model for the SAWP and the establishment of a PACA-like deemed trust will bolster our competitiveness and assist with our industry’s long-term growth and sustainability.”

“Our industry has long advocated for the implementation of a PACA-like deemed trust in Canada and has increased its efforts since reciprocity with the United States was revoked in 2014,” added Lemaire. “We are pleased to see the federal government taking real steps towards change, as this lack of protection is costing Canadian and U.S. firms operating in Canada an average of $19 M per year. Nearly all of Canada’s fruit and vegetable producers are small businesses and even one bankruptcy can have devastating effects for these businesses and their communities.”

CPMA will continue to monitor the progress of these recommendation and looks forward to working with the Government in the hopes that both be included in the 2018 Federal Budget.

Pictured above: Ron Lemaire and House Finance Committee Chair Wayne Easter at the 2018 pre-Budget consultations


For more information, please contact:

Troy Sherman
Manager, Policy
Canadian Produce Marketing Association
162 Cleopatra, Ottawa, Ontario K2G 5X2
(+1) 613-226-4187 x 227
tsherman@cpma.ca 
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