The emergence of CAPI:
An interview with Gaëtan Lussier

From CAPI Update, Winter 2009

Gaëtan Lussier, CAPI executive chair, is a former deputy minister of both the
Quebec Ministry of Agriculture and of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and
is a member of the Order of Canada. Mr. Lussier is also the former President of
Weston Bakeries Quebec and former President and CEO of Culinar.

Why was CAPI created?

CAPI came about by the will of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, which wanted to have a third party analyze the future policy requirements of the country's agriculture and agri-food economy. The hope was that this third party would help maintain the competitiveness of the sector, by inviting stakeholders and representatives of the value chain to have a forum for discussing the future and exchanging points of view on issues and opportunities that could affect the future of the agri-food economy in Canada.

What have been CAPI's major developments?

By examining the evolution of farm income in Canada, CAPI was able to bring attention to the financial performance of the sector, and the regulations affecting the sector. CAPI devised a vision on agriculture and agri-food in order to influence the policies of the federal and provincial governments. This vision influenced the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF), the federal government's policy document for agriculture.

What have been CAPI's major accomplishments?

In terms of farm income, establishing a regular reporting of the main financial performance indicators is a big accomplishment. We held consultations across the country, and collaborated with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Statistics Canada. Now we have ways to measure the performance and profitability of the sector, by farm type and size and by province. Another big project for us is our work to improve linkages between agriculture and health, and reducing the health deficit in Canada. Since late 2007, we have been working toward an integrated health and agri-food strategy. We are also proud of our efforts to draw attention to the plight of rural economies in Canada. We held an international symposium in 2008 to look at what needs to happen to improve the economic fortunes of rural communities in Canada.

What are CAPI's major challenges?

One of our biggest challenges has been getting base financing. This allows us to continue pursuing our three themes for the sector: competitiveness, health and sustainability. Our role is to influence the decisionmakers, so to ensure they recognize the agri-food sector as fundamental to our economy, and so they set in place the appropriate policies.