Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House find it disturbing to note the lack of specifics in the throne speech on a number of vital national issues. However, we did not expect the government to neglect so completely a subject of utmost importance to rural Canada, and that is agriculture. In fact, its absence is conspicuous. We can only hope that this is not an indication of the government's intention to put agriculture on the back burner.
Farmers like myself are anxiously waiting on that back burner. We are the ones who stand to get burned. This while government chefs cook up higher deficits and more bureaucracy using a recipe they dug out of an old Keynesian cookbook.
The government of today cannot afford to ignore vast regions of our great country. Rural and urban Canadians all deserve equal treatment. All opposition members will require it of this government.