I will take my five minutes, because I have something to contribute to this meeting.
You people have given me something to think about, because some of the things you have said I have been saying for two weeks, or for the time we've been on the road.
Scott, you mentioned that we need this whole idea of food security, and that's important. We need to have a policy where government takes a position that food security in a nation-- or “food sovereignty”, as was suggested by one of our speakers earlier today, I believe--is important.
As for profitability, if profitability were a buzzword that was real in the farm industry, Maria, Mike, and Ivan would have no problem getting into the farming business.
If we had a government--and I'm not saying this Conservative government, but any government--if we had a Canadian government that believed that food security was as important as buying heavy-lift transport planes—because we can find the money very quickly to do that, we can find $3 billion very quickly, and I use that as an example—we would find the money. First of all, you have to have a belief system that believes that food security or food sovereignty is important. If we make that a mission statement, then we need to find, and we will find, the ways to do that.
I also believe we should then make this a national program. Agriculture should be as national as defence is. I believe we should get the provinces out of the delivery of moneys on agriculture. We should have one delivery system so we at least know whose ox we're goring and who we go after. I believe if we did that, if we had a central delivery program--one federal, national agricultural system believing in the principle that I've just outlined--then we would find a way to do it, because, first of all, we have to have the will to do it.
I'm wondering if I would find concurrence, because we know the programs we've delivered have not always delivered or have not always gone to the right place. I believe that production insurance would look after some of the things you talked about, and I think the ASRA program does do that somewhat in Quebec.
Am I thinking the right way? We need to find a way, as we conclude our meetings, to say, listen, I think we've found a direction that we need to start working on and perhaps expanding upon. Am I thinking the right way? I've been at this now...for the third time across Canada, and I see very little changing over 14 years.