Bilateral meeting with Senators from the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry - Canada

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met today with a delegation of Senators who sit on the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of Canada, including: The Honourable Robert Black, Senator and Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry; The Honourable Paula Simons, Senator and Deputy Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry; and The Honourable Victor Oh, Senator and Member of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.

The Director-General expressed his appreciation for Canadas’s ongoing support to FAO’s mandate, and looked forward to continued, constructive engagement moving forward.  He acknowledged the importance of FAO’s roots in North America, which ultimately led to the establishment of FAO on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City.

The Director-General noted with appreciation that this was the first visit of Canadian Senators to FAO in recent history, and he also expressed his deep appreciation for the Canadian Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food, The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, who ably chaired the 43rd Session of the FAO Conference (1-7 July 2023).

For their part, the delegation congratulated the Director-General on being elected to a second term, and expressed appreciation for their fruitful visit to FAO and meetings held on the margins of the Eleventh Plenary Assembly of the Global Soil Partnership which is taking place at FAO Headquarters from 12-14 July 2023.

The delegation noted the important work by FAO on soil mapping, and that the first healthy soils study in Canada since 1984 would be undertaken with the report ready in the first half of 2024. 

The Director-General briefly summarized some of the changes he has emplaced in the Organization since 2019, to ensure FAO is fit-for-purpose and equipped to deliver support – efficiently, effectively and transparently – to all its Members. 

During the meeting the Director-General and the delegation also briefly exchanged views on some important areas of collaboration between FAO and Canada, including gender, Indigenous Peoples, land and water, environmental issues, and others.