Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, Minister. I was just thinking when you were going through your remarks that you must have gone back and looked at some of Minister Goodale's remarks, because they're getting increasingly long. They're long on politics and short on substance, I would say.
I'm going to ask a number of questions. If they're not all answered, the department may be able to get back to me. In your opening remarks, you went along the same lines as your parliamentary secretary so often does, leaving the impression that you're putting farmers first and listening to them. But I think the facts offer a different truth.
At a time when our hog and beef sector is in the worst crisis it's ever been in, the program came out. We support it, but a lot more needs to be done. I need to know, for that sector, are you looking at increasing the cap on CAIS, and if so, by how much? Because the crisis happened so suddenly, are you going to offer producers the option of going for either their regular CAIS or AgriStability? For those producers who have been faced with disease, will you offer the option of assuming a reference margin as if they had not had that disease? This would make a tremendous difference in the hog and beef sector. Although you're putting up to $400 million out there, the department indicated that the additional cost of these measures was only about $22 million. That, to me, is a pittance, and to a certain extent a slap in the face to the hog industry.
The potato industry is in trouble in parts of the country. In the tender fruit industry, they are tearing up their orchards and plants are closing. You're saying you're putting farmers first, but the department's farm income forecast highlights show that between 2004 and 2006 program spending was down by $1.2 billion. Here we're facing a terrible crisis in some commodities, and program spending is estimated to be down $1.2 billion. I'd like your response to that.
The last time you were here we expressed grave concern about the government breaking its word and cancelling the Canadian farm families options program, leaving thousands of farmers with broken promises and no money. I'm informed that those who were still in—the ones who were in the first year were allowed to be in the second—were paid out initially at 50¢ on the dollar. A commitment was made that the other moneys would be paid long before now. They haven't been paid, as I understand it, unless they've come out in the last two days. When will that other 50¢ on the dollar be paid? Or is it going to be less than was originally committed?
My last question relates to the Canadian Grain Commission. You will know that the labour unions put out a press release yesterday claiming that the producer protection programs will be slashed by 67%, grain quality programs will be reduced by almost half, and research programs will be cut by 60%. They're close to accurate. If you go through the estimate books, you will find $53 million for the quality assurance program for 2008-09, and $28 million for 2009-10. The grain quality research program is down from $11 million to $4 million. All areas in the Canadian Grain Commission seem to be cut dramatically. The producer protection programs are down from $4.8 million to $1.6 million. Why the slashing of spending on the Canadian Grain Commission quality assurance program, etc.?
I'll leave it at that for now, Mr. Chair.