International Travel Report
International Travel Final Report Minister Carlier Mission to the United States January 6-8, 2017 Overview: Honourable Oneil Carlier, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (AF), led a mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to attend the 2017 Legislative Agriculture Chairs (LAC) Summit and to address a session devoted to State/Provincial Response to Natural Disasters. The mission was designed to support Alberta’s international trade and intergovernmental relations priorities with our most important bilateral trading partner and largest export market for agriculture, food, and forestry products, the United States (US). Historically, the Summit has been used by Canada as an advocacy forum to address adverse trade policy or legislation, profile Alberta’s agriculture and forestry sectors, and to further encourage bilateral cooperation within the agriculture and forestry sectors. The 2017 Summit afforded Alberta/Canada the opportunity to reaffirm relations and positions, and to seek assurances from US legislators that a new US administration will not revisit past agricultural policies or legislation that would adversely impact Canada’s livestock industry. The 2017 Summit drew 125 legislators from 46 US states and six Canadian provinces. In attendance were ministers of Agriculture from Alberta and Manitoba, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Environment, along with members of the Legislative Assemblies of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The remainder of the Canada Delegation was comprised of representatives of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Market Access Secretariat, the Canadian Consulates of Minneapolis and Dallas, and industry representation from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canadian Pork Council, and Manitoba Pork. The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), also attended and gave a keynote address on working with the new US administration, bilateral agricultural trade, and cross-border cooperation.
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