Thank you kindly, Mr. Chair.
We understand the Supreme Court's decision on the matter of farming income versus income from other sources. But, if a farmer incurs losses year after year, he faces the choice of closing his operation or finding a source of income that enables him to keep the farm going. And the proposed changes don't take that reality into account. It would have been much more prudent of the government to consider the effect that the reasonable expectation of profit provision would have on the reality farmers face, particularly in tough economic times.
Our amendment addresses that problem to some extent. The government is proposing a $17,500 exemption, which was established in 1958. If you factor the increase in the cost of living into the initial exemption amount, it would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of $37,500, not $17,500.
Our amendment recognizes that the reasons for the exemption are still valid, while reflecting the fact that the exemption can't really work for farmers if it isn't raised to factor in the increase in the cost of living since 1958. Therefore, we are proposing that the exemption amount be raised to $37,500.