Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, I understand that you don't necessarily have an answer to my question this morning.
However, I'm telling you, officially and publicly, that our farm producers need the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to work on their behalf to provide more liquidity for their farms. It's important, Minister. Right now, it's an emergency.
I would like to hear about the Local Food Infrastructure Fund. Can you explain what happened?
In some of our previous studies, witnesses told us that they were short of money, and that they needed more sources of investment capital.
The AgriInvest program was launched, with funding from $15,000 to $220,000. Several of my Bloc colleagues sent me letters they had received from businesses in their respective ridings. They had submitted applications under the program and were told apologetically that they didn't have much money, and that the rules of the program were going to be changed. Funding under the program would now be between 15,000 and $50,000, rather than $15,000 and $120,000, and and that it would only be for remote farming communities.
We have nothing against remote farming communities, except for the fact that some companies, in good conscience, completed applications under this program. The agri-food sector needs a lot of funding, Minister.
Are you going to be announcing more funding for the Local Food Infrastructure Fund?