—because clearly we're laying out some of the agriculture initiatives that we've taken. The farm families options program is one of those initiatives. It's important for people to understand that we're talking about the important initiatives this government has taken in trying to set the framework to talk about the farm families options program.
Mr. Bellavance brings up an interesting point, because his producers benefited from a quick response from this government. When the issue of the golden nematode hit an area in Quebec, this government responded very quickly with a $5.5 million commitment to federal potato producers in Quebec. This situation was handled quickly and well by the new government that was willing and able to respond to producers who needed help.
Another commitment we made was an additional $1 billion in the 2007 budget, and this came with some new direction in the farm program and planning. As you can see, this minister has been very proactive. He's bringing forward a contributory style of producers savings accounts as part of the business risk management program. Rather than just saying that we're going to do this, he put $600 million into that program to see that it gets started.
That wasn't enough, because the minister announced another $400 million, Mr. Chair, that would be paid directly to producers to help address the cost of the production issues they're facing. So as the cost of production goes up, our producers find themselves in a situation where they are gaining some extra money from this government to face those costs of production.
Mr. Chair, I could go on for quite some time. Maybe we can come back to some of this later, but I want to make an amendment to Mr. Easter's motion. I think it's important to do this. So rather than deal with the motion as it is, I'd like to amend it to say:
That the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food commend the minister for taking the advice of the three opposition critics who unanimously criticized the farm families options program, and that we express our thanks to him for committing to deliver this money through programs that will benefit a wide range of producers.
We're talking about the farm families options program and the changes that are being made to it, so we need to make that amendment.