On a point of order, Mr. Chairman, while the parliamentary secretary is going on about the minister's decision, would he be so kind as to inform us what studies the minister did prior to dropping the program, and could he give us the numbers of how many intended to participate this time around? By the letters I'm receiving, I believe there are thousands.
We know the figure is $246 million taken out of their pockets, but I would like to know what he did in terms of statistical analysis of how many people, given the fact that they knew it was coming forward at the end of the tax year, had done actual planning towards utilizing that program, which now is not available.
Would the parliamentary secretary give us that information on what studies the minister has done? I wouldn't think a government would, just because the opposition said something.... They didn't jump when we talked about the Wheat Board. It seems funny that we're getting the words back on this one.
But those words are accurate: it was a bad program, poorly designed. The problem is, the minister made it worse by the actions he took, cancelling it retroactively and virtually taking money out of farmers' pockets. So could we get a little more detail, while he's talking substantively?