Advisory council could have been beneficial during the pandemic, MP MacGregor says.   Ottawa—Thirteen months ago, the federal government announced the creation of a National Food Policy and the appointment of a food advisory council. It could finally come together this summer, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has told the Commons agriculture committee. While the announced policy focused more on food affordability than production and marketing, Bibeau said at the time it would be in operation later in 2019. While many expected the creation of the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council in the aftermath of the November election, it didn't happen even though many organizations submitted names of potential members. A five-year, $50 million Local Food Infrastructure Fund was also to be set up. Bibeau blamed the delay on the government being overloaded dealing with a wide array of issues connected to the pandemic, she told NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor. He said having the advisory council in place before the pandemic  “to present some alternative policy options, especially on what our food system is going to look like in the future, would be quite valuable at this time.” The food infrastructure fund has been rejigged “to help a lot of local food security organizations deal with the acute phase of the crisis,” he said. “If we're going to be building resiliency into the system and making sure our communities are resilient, this is the exact type of funding that communities would need to set themselves up for the long term.” The fund should be enhanced so communities “especially in rural areas, can have that infrastructure necessary to continue to thrive into the future and to meet those other shocks that are undoubtedly going to come?” Bibeau said that $43.6 million remains in the infrastructure program's budget and once a second call for proposals is complete, there could be discussions about the future of the fund. She didn't say when the call for proposals could come. MacGregor reminded the minister that she said last year the advisory council would be a central piece of the food policy because it would “bring together the expertise and diversity needed beyond government to address the challenges.” The food policy was first proposed in the 2015 mandate letter to former agriculture Lawrence MacAulay from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It called for “a food policy that promotes healthy living and safe food by putting more healthy, high-quality food, produced by Canadian ranchers and farmers, on the tables of families across the country.” The creation of the Advisory Council was recommended by the Canadian Federation a decade ago. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.