I'll raise one issue.
Back in the eighties, with Farm Credit, there were points when farmers were in the same situation they're in today. The values of their properties were down. They were out of cash. They couldn't operate. It was no real fault of their own; it was due to the circumstances that came together. Since that time Farm Credit has taken on the role where they're not a lender of last resort anymore; they're now more of a commercial lender and thereby living by those rules. One of the rules of commercial lending is, “We'll do an accommodation, but please take your piss-ass business somewhere else.”
Why are we willing to sell Alex's property to Jean-Guy at 50¢ on the dollar and take the loss, yet we're unwilling to negotiate down and have Jean-Guy keep that property at 65¢ on the dollar so there's a win-win? It's not a crippling debt for Jean-Guy, but Alex is also not losing half of what he has invested. That type of mentality requires direction from government through Farm Credit to enact that type of policy. It doesn't matter who the government of the day is, they need to do that.
One of the comments that will quickly come back from people in government is that although Farm Credit is a crown corporation, it is stand-alone and has to operate like a bank. Oh, poppycock; if the minister can phone up Farm Credit and get into salary and bonuses for employers, he can sure as heck phone them up and say that with the help of the government they're going to assist this industry to transition.