Yes, just on that point, André, I understand the exit proposal by the tobacco industry does include others in the country. We have one in P.E.I. as well--one that's left.
My understanding of the motion is that it would include an exit strategy for tobacco production in its entirety.
So on the motion, Mr. Chair, I know Larry indicated that he hadn't heard of any suicides in the industry. The fact of the matter is, Larry, we met with the tobacco industry, and it was stated at the meeting that there were suicides recently. I think it tells you the seriousness of the situation, Mr. Chair.
The government's move to Mr. Preston as chair of the task force is beside the point. The fact of the matter is the current Minister of Citizenship and Immigration committed to an exit strategy some time ago, and the government has broken its word. It's as simple as that; they broke their word. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration didn't show up at a public meeting last week; she found another excuse.
At the meeting I was at with tobacco producers, the urgency of this situation was made very clear by a banker in attendance. That crop is certainly in the greenhouses somewhere around May 7 to May 9, I believe--and, Lloyd, you can correct me if I'm wrong--and the bank would be looking at the crop in those greenhouses and making a decision such that the bank would stick with only 7% of that production, because the asset levels in those operations have dropped from about 80% to 20% of the original value that the bank extended money on.
The bank made it clear at the meeting that they will very seldom make a financial decision based on what they have taken to be a political commitment, and the political commitment was given by the then MP, Diane Finley. The lending community had lent on the basis that there would be an exit strategy following up on the one the previous government had put in place. Now the government has backed away from that strategy.
The facts are these. The federal government has a responsibility here, regardless of the political party. There's been an anti-smoking strategy in place, which even the tobacco industry agrees with us was the right thing to do. This is a legitimate industry that operated under the laws of the land. It is a farming community that is now affected by a massive government policy toward anti-smoking. They produce a legal product in a legitimate industry, but government policy itself is shrinking their market.
The other area the federal government has a responsibility for--and they made it very clear, and it is true--is that 40% of the product now in place in Canada is contraband. For a law and order government, the government is not dealing with that contraband coming in and going on the market. That further restricts their market, and as a result, these tobacco producers, in a completely legal and legitimate industry, find themselves being forced out of their industry. And their asset base is dropping. The government had committed itself to an exit strategy, and to come up with excuses for funding more task forces is unacceptable.
I do not know if this is true or not, but they had indicated to us that they felt they had a commitment from the Minister of Agriculture that there would be funding in the budget. As we know, the funding wasn't in the budget.
So, Mr. Chair, I strongly support this motion. It is really a motion trying to force the government, for once, to keep its word. That's what it's about.