Thank you, Mr. Minister, for coming to the committee, even ahead of what we expected. We're always happy to see you. I hope you feel the same and that you looked forward to this meeting as much we did.
At the beginning of this parliamentary session, thousands of producers came here to tell us how helpless they are about the farm income crisis. Nine months later, the crisis is still here. Of course, it may not be fair to put all the blame for this situation on your shoulders, but we do not feel that the government has developed short, medium and long-term solutions to deal with the crisis, which is one of the worst in the history of agriculture.
You have probably started to receive postcards such as this one here: "Farm families have solutions." These cards mention many problems and issues with the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization or CAIS Program. I'm glad you talked about it in your presentation. Some adjustments have been made. You have solutions, as you frequently say. You referred to a new disaster relief program and another income support program, but they are not implemented yet. I understand it can't be done as fast as we wish it could be, but I think that after nine months, you should have had a more definite timeline for what you intend to do.
In Quebec, we are wondering why, for the three main income support programs, we only received about 6.8% of the total payments made by AAC in 2006, even though we produce 18% of Canada's agricultural output.
In response to a question I asked on Friday -- you're only present in the House from Monday to Thursday -- your Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Gourde, gave me some figures that I would like you to confirm. He told me that "our producers have already received $135 million and should be getting more than $300 million by the end of the year…" I guess these figures pertain to Quebec since my question was about Québec.
Can you confirm these figures?