Thanks, Mr. Chair.
On the last point he makes...I'm saying that he's agreeing with us in that it's going to give them more usable cash. And then during a debate he said, “This is the best disguised Ponzi scheme in the country.”
I'm saying that he's not consistent in his approach. He just throws out these headline-grabbing comments that are sometimes for us, sometimes against us, etc.
The last thing I want to comment on, Chair, is about the APP. He was saying that for farmers to have access to the loan program under pork farming, they have to pay off the advanced payment program loan, or APP loan, that they have. He seems outraged by that, but this is the same MP who was railing against the government for placing farmers in debt and not taking them out of debt. Mr. Easter should be glad that farmers are going to pay off some debt.
I've explained this to Mr. Easter before. But I think other people should realize that if they secure funding or secure a loan under the pork program, that's long-term funding. They should use that long-term funding to pay off their short-term APP loan. That just makes sense. You pay off your APP loan first. You now have in place a consolidated longer-term loan, and you can apply for APP again next year if you happen to need it.
That's a very sensible approach, Chair. I don't know what Mr. Easter would have against that. It just makes good common sense.
Thank you, Chair.