I do not want to spend too much time on this, but consumers are telling me that if they want a product of Canada, they have only to look on the shelves. There are products from the U.S., China, but if they want a product of Canada, they just have to take the one without a label, the one that does not say anything. We cannot put “product of Canada” on jams made in Canada.
Mr. Meredith, you have obviously taken the time to look at the budget carefully. So you must know that all departmental budgets have been frozen except for the Department of National Defence and the Prime Minister's Office. That shows where this government's priorities lie.
How has or how will the departmental budget freeze impact the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food? Will jobs be lost? Will cuts be made to certain programs? A number of announcements were made for several years. Is the money available, and will we still be able to move forward with those programs?