I want to touch on something that I think is very important.
Mr. Kamenz, you mentioned third party delivery as probably the most efficient way of delivering money. A couple of years ago we delivered a billion dollars within a matter of a couple of months to Canadian farmers. I think it was the most quickly delivered money ever.
I happen to have to call Agricorp from time to time because of problems—not of my making, but of someone else's making—and they don't even know who I am. I guess by the time they get to know who I am, they've moved to another department; so they will continue to want to know who I am. In fact, once they know, they usually move on. In any event, I just find them to be an organization that is very stressful, and so do my farmer friends. First of all, often you can't get them on the phone.
Anyhow, you may disagree with me on that, but I think it's time we started looking at some models that might work for us. I think what the Ontario grains and oilseeds people have done in conjunction with our Quebec partners is a model that needs to be extended across this country. We need to start working together. Provinces need to start coming together. There are going to be disparities or differences between provinces, and we ought to understand the demographics and the geography of our country. Things aren't the same from one province to another, but I think it's time to look at one farm plan for Canada.
We have a delivery system in this country that is delivered by 10 provinces. Today we talked about the fruit growers not getting a program worth $100 million, because the province has agreed and the feds haven't, or the feds have agreed and the province hasn't. This is not the way to deliver programs. The U.S. has one farm plan, not 50 or 51. If we're not ready to start thinking about that, if we want to protect our particular political bailiwick, if that's the way we're thinking and we're not going to move beyond that, we're going to be doing this in another 14 years from now.
This is my third trip across this country, and really, things haven't changed much, as I said the other day—except the hairline and perhaps the date on the calendar. We are still talking about the very same things. People, please, I'm also a farmer. I've listened to this so many times, I can't tell you. It's time we move beyond this.
I've given you some things. I think there are some things that are very positive. The risk management program proposed by the Ontario grains and oilseeds people, I think, is a model. I am not suggesting it's perfect, but I think it's a model we need to look at.
As we move forward with the other pillars, the business risk and the crop insurance have been working fairly well and, I guess, the delivery....
Has the money been delivered? Can you show me that the $1.5 billion in the 2006-07 budget was delivered? Can anyone show me that? Were we able to show it when we were government? I don't think so. Has it been delivered? I'd like to know that. I guess it's old money being regurgitated and presented in a new form.
These are things I think no one knows. I, as your politician, don't know. So I'm sure you'll make a short comment.