Mr. Speaker, I have here an article from Le Droit the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell is described as ``a lion transformed into a mouse''.
If farmers had been attacked, or struck, or knocked about when he was a member of the Opposition, the Liberal Party whip would have made the exact same speech as the one he just gave, but in reverse. Here it says that the member from the other side is inflexible in the area of agriculture, he refuses any measure affecting the farmers who make up a good portion of his constituency, including Réjean Pommainville.
I have here a paper, Farm and Country , which is the equivalent of our La terre de chez nous in Quebec. It says this measure will cost farmers $56 per head of cattle. You heard me right, $56 per head of cattle. Farmers in his riding have 60 head of cattle each on average, and Réjean Pommainville has 75. Multiply these figures by 56 and you will reduce the deficit that the Liberals, among others, have generated year after year since 1970.
I have here notes from the press conference held last week by the president of the UPA, the Quebec Union des producteurs agricoles.
He spoke about the subsidy for industrial milk. I suggest my colleague, the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, phone the UPA and get information on this. I will gladly give him the number if need be, like he did two weeks ago on Sunday when he gave us a phone number where the information given was exactly the opposite.
The UPA's notes say this: $5.43 by hectolitre, a 30 per cent cut over two years; I am honest, I say it. This does not represent 80 cents or even 90 cents. I would invite him to do the calculation: $5.43 multiplied by 0.3 represent a $1.51 reduction by hectolitre.
So, if a farmer has a quota of 2,500 hectolitres, it means a contribution of $3,775 to the reduction of the deficit that the member himself helped to create and, on top of that, he is cutting the transport subsidy for feed, which is estimated at $10 per ton. If this farmer buys 71 tons to feed his cows that will produce 2,500 hectolitres, he will have to contribute $710 more.
So, for the farmers in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, the average contribution is $4,485. The lion, the member of the rat pack who got to be well known while in the opposition has become a mouse. He should go and meet the people from the UPA, he should visit the live animals auction houses to see the big disappointment that the Liberal budget has created throughout Quebec and throughout rural Canada.