They were talking about consultation here. This program was put in place with a lot of thought over time within the department and the ministry.
We all agree that the attempt was great. It was to try to address some immediate problems of low-income farm families. While it may have done some good, there were an awful lot of people who couldn't qualify for it. That came out in some of the criticism that we took for it.
To back that up, I'm going to have to point out more of the criticism. From the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, APAS, President Ken McBride said:
Though it sounds feasible and beneficial, Ottawa's recent splurge of $550 million on low-income farm families only is a short-term remedy. With this plan, the government diverts attention from the deficiency in Canada's agricultural policy relative to the U.S.
That was in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, August 22.
He talks about the short-term remedy here. Part of this program, as was originally announced, was to try to get—as I just said a few minutes ago—some immediate, and you may call it a short-term, influx of cash to those low-income farm families that were needing it the most.
But again, the reason I point this out, Mr. Chairman, is that it was simply another criticism of this program leading up to the minister's decision.
Mr. McBride also noted, and this is a different comment at another date, that “the initiative is only short-term and doesn’t address the issue of the competitive disadvantages between Canadian and American producers.” That's another issue altogether, away from this issue.
Mr. McBride said that “while the government support is encouraging”—so he does have a bit of happiness with it—“this kind of funding offers producers cash to buy groceries and fails to invest in their industry.” This was in the Meadow Lake Progress last year on July 8.