Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, I would like to believe that your government cares about agriculture and considers it as a priority.
You have announced a $1 billion strategy which simply amounts to allowing Farm Credit Canada to lend more money to farmers and processors. I did say “lend”, not “give”. So they will have to pay the money back. They will bear the burden of that loan.
I'm going to draw a parallel with Alto. Alto currently has a $3.9 billion credit facility from the government to fund research. The money hasn't been lent to Alto; it's been given to them, subject to certain conditions. Incidentally, the Alto group has more executives than employees. That's quite something. I haven't seen that very often in my life. That's for a project which, according to the announcements, will cost between $60 billion and $90 billion, but all the independent experts say it will cost $150 billion. That's fresh money.
As for agriculture, $1 billion is being announced with great fanfare. However, this is $1 billion that farmers and processors will have to borrow. It's not fresh money coming from the government. The burden falls on those who will be borrowing this money.
Minister, I do not know if you are aware, but Farm Credit Canada does not lend money for free. It does not offer preferential rates. It charges a mortgage rate, plus an additional 2% to 4%.
Have you ever tried to secure an agricultural loan from Farm Credit Canada yourself?