A/HRC/22/50/Add.1 be eligible for benefits makes it virtually impossible for Mexican or Caribbean workers under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) to receive regular unemployment benefits. In short, a marginalized category has been created essentially in order to compensate for the increased concentration in the farming sector and for the failure to ensure that farming remains attractive to Canadians. 23. A thriving small-scale farming sector is essential to local food systems, which food policy councils and localities throughout Canada now seek to strengthen. Local food systems can deliver considerable health and ecological benefits by increasing access to fresh and nutritious foods to children in schools, underserved urban and Northern remote communities, and older persons living in long-term care homes, among others. Local food systems benefit local farmers,20 with strong multiplier effects on the local economy. 24. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur witnessed a number of initiatives that seek to improve food and nutrition security and foster local markets at the municipal and provincial levels, in particular through local procurement schemes and “buy local” labelling (such as Local Food Plus, Foodland Ontario, Buy Manitoba). However, the ability of all levels of government to use institutional sourcing as a way to encourage the transition towards a more sustainable food system may be restricted by legal requirements of nondiscrimination imposed on public procurement.21 They may also be undermined by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union, currently in draft form, which would prohibit municipal governments from using procurement of goods and services valued over Can$340,000 in a way that favours local or Canadian goods, services or labour. Numerous municipalities across the country have opposed this restriction on the ability of local authorities to promote urban-rural linkages and local economic development through institutional purchasing, and have requested exemptions.22 25. Canada faces other significant obstacles in transitioning to more sustainable and decentralized food systems. In the meat-packing industry, highly capital-intensive measures have been adopted in compliance with food safety requirements, making it uneconomic for smaller abattoirs to operate due to the high overhead and debt-servicing costs these investments entail.23 26. In addition, the Government has moved to gradually dismantle existing orderly marketing systems. In 2011, the federal Government passed Bill C-18, putting an end to monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), and making it permissible for any party, as of August 1, 2012, to market western wheat and barley for export and domestic human consumption.24 The Special Rapporteur is concerned that, as a result, the CWB will lose its 20 21 22 23 24 It was estimated in 2007 that producers realize a 40-80 per cent increase in return on their products by marketing through farmers’ markets (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sectoral Policy Directorate, Local and Regional Food Economies in Canada: Status Report, March 2007, p. 30). See for example,Marie-Hélène Sylvestre, “Perspectives d’achat local pour les organismes publics québécois et les municipalités. Une analyse juridique,” Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Direction du développement des individus et des communautés, Sept. 2009. On 6 March 2012, the Toronto City Council voted for a permanent exemption from the CanadaEuropean Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and requested the Province of Ontario to issue a permanent exemption for the City from CETA and that it otherwise protect the powers of municipalities, hospitals, school boards, utilities, universities and other subfederal agencies to use public procurement, services and investment as tools to create local jobs and otherwise support local economic development. An additional 50 municipalities have requested similar exemptions. See for example, National Farmers Union (Canada), “The Farm Crisis and the Cattle Sector: Toward a New Analysis and New Solutions,” November 19, 2008. p. 23. The law is currently challenged before the courts as its opponents argue that the proposed changes to the single desk were not made according to the procedures required under the Canadian Wheat Board 9