Canadian MPs are officially on summer vacation.
The House of Commons rose for its summer recess June 17, marking the end of eight months of political highs and lows for Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and his rookie Liberal government.
Parliament is expected to resume sitting Sept. 19, although MPs will return to Ottawa June 29 for U.S. President Barack Obama’s address as part of the Three Amigos summit between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
It has been a hectic eight months in Ottawa as the Trudeau government transitioned into power, worked to find its footing and then launched into a rapid-fire round of policy consultations on everything from the sensitive topic of medically assisted dying to the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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Many of those conversations will continue this summer as politicians prepare for what is already expected to a be a busy fall. Here are a few issues agriculture folks might want to keep an eye on this summer.
While the fate of the TPP deal remains uncertain given the political flux south of the border, the multi-lateral, multibillion-dollar trade deal is expected to be discussed when Obama comes to Canada at the end of the month.
The U.S. president has been engaged in a pro-TPP tour for several months, raising the multilateral trade deal at every international opportunity.
The Liberals, for their part, have remained guarded, refusing to disclose their position on the trade deal until cross-Canada consultations with stakeholders and other groups have been completed.
TPP proponents had been hoping the prime minister would use the upcoming Three Amigos summit as a platform to unveil his position. That’s now highly unlikely given the House trade committee’s recent decision to extend its consultation deadline to Oct. 31, nine days before American voters head to the polls.
The TPP, however, isn’t the only issue on the federal trade agenda.
Ken Ash, the Organization of Economic and Co-operative Development’s trade and agriculture director, will be in Ottawa for a series of meetings with Canadian officials later this month.
Meanwhile, Canadian officials continue to engage in conversations with European officials about the Canada-European trade deal, which, Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has said, could be ratified as early as next year.
Of particular note for ranchers and meat processors is that the European Union has yet to approve two Canadian solutions used to wash beef and pork carcasses. Canadian and European officials are engaged in conversations on the subject, but those close to the file admit it is unlikely the issue will be resolved within the trade ministers’ ratification timeline.
Then there’s the scheduled agriculture ministers’ federal-provincial-territorial meeting in Calgary July 20-22, where ministers are expected to set the framework for the next agriculture funding framework.
Consultations with stakeholders are already underway. Agriculture Canada officials have said those talks will be ramped up once the ministers have met.
The federal government is also expected to engage in more de-tailed and direct conversations with its provincial counterparts on Canada’s climate change strategy.
Those discussions come as the Trudeau government works to meet its international environment commitments that were agreed to during the Paris talks earlier this year.
Closer to home, prairie grain groups, shippers and the railways are preparing for the next phase of talks on Canada’s transportation system.
With analysis of the Emerson report underway and the Fair Rail For Grain Farmers Act extended for one year, Transport Minister Marc Garneau will hold a series of roundtables this summer about the future of Canadian transportation.
Canadian grain shippers are expected to repeatedly raise calls for reciprocal penalties, clearer definitions of service and the resolution of disagreements with the railways over interswitching limits during the consultations.
Garneau has said he plans to present his plan for Canada’s transportation system in the fall.
