Mr. Speaker, people remember last summer's flooding in the U.S. midwest and the damage done to crops and communities there. The U.S. federal government responded generously and so did ours, sending PFRA technicians and engineers to assist with the the dykes and dams.
Our own flooded and snow covered crops in northeastern Saskatchewan and northwestern Manitoba, however, have so far been ignored. There were no large centres to be flooded, only acres and acres of flat black soil which were later covered with snow and subsequently trampled by wildlife, making most of it unrecoverable.
Not only has last year's crop been lost but conditions are such that probably this year's will not be seeded on those lands either.
Since such circumstances are not addressed under existing programs, I have asked the federal minister of agriculture to initiative third line of defence actions which are to be triggered when existing programs fail. Why has he not acted? Why are these farmers and communities being left to fend for themselves?
I know the red book ignored farm policy but surely the government cannot ignore this.