But the difficulty comes.... You mentioned your August 6 announcement about the stay of default under the emergency advance payment program. The problem with that is that also included in that announcement was a fixed pay schedule and that is impossible for many producers to meet.
Your comment at the time was that when prices improve.... Well, prices haven't improved, and I'll quote a letter that you have on your desk. I don't want to use the person's name; I'll talk to you confidentially on that. But this is her letter to you:
Only two years have past since the government made this generous offer and now the same government is “pulling the plug” by insisting that the APP funds be repaid. The request for repayment is compounded by enforcing rigorous/tight repayment terms. About 80% of hog producers have already gone out of business in P.E.I. in the last couple of years, and only a hand full of farmers benefited from the hog transition program.
She goes on to say, “It is inconceivable how government officials think that producers have come out of this disaster and have the financial means to repay this disaster money today or even over the next 5 years”.
What you're going to do is drive the hog and beef farmers into default, especially those in eastern Canada, if you stick to the repayment terms made in your announcement of August 6. Are you considering any other options?