I'm last, so it has to be me.
Thank you very much. It's nice seeing you again, Colleen, and Mr. Friesen, Ms. Regier.
I have to say that I'm a little shell-shocked almost on hearing your comments, because when I go through my riding and speak to my agricultural people, I usually feel pretty good. They're saying, way to go, Guy, things are happening--generally speaking. There are some exceptions. I should say upfront that I don't have huge hog farms in my area, or not many, and it is the same with beef.
I was proud when I was asked to be parliamentary secretary to the agriculture minister because in the last less than two years we have put $4.5 billion into agriculture, and that has resonated extremely well with most of the farmers in my riding.
You mentioned, Mr. Friesen, that the minister has had some federal-provincial negotiations with his counterparts at the provinces. One of the first things he said to me when I got this job to work with him was, here are your marching orders. I wanted to know how he wanted me to help him. He said that the one thing to do was put farmers first. If you notice, what we've been doing here since we've taken government is we've put farmers first. That is what I've been told to do by my farmers in my riding, and I've tried to do that. It's certainly up near the top.
The other thing he said was that what we have to do is get every farm to the point where they are profitable and they are sustainable. He said that if we don't understand anything else, at least we must understand that. Really, for the grassroots farmers, the guys who milk the cows and harvest their crops in my riding, that's all they want. They want a level playing field. I thought, and I still think, that we're getting there, and as a matter of fact, with Growing Forward the feedback I'm getting is very positive.
Mr. Friesen, you said you thought there were exhaustive consultations throughout the country for Growing Forward. I thought the farmers had input on this, and this is what they tell me, and they like it. I'm assuming that you think there are many good things about it, or at least some good things. I'd like to get your opinion on Growing Forward--what the good things are and maybe where the consultations have lacked, because I understand there was a lot of input from the grassroots up. Could you just elaborate on what you think about Growing Forward, the positives of it, and where we can improve it?