Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the hon. member mentioned one item which I find very relevant. He wondered why we are so dependent on imports and why some regions in Canada are not self-sufficient.
In this regard, he shares the view of the Canadian Sheep Foundation which claims: "The Canadian government is abandoning without any reason a production in full expansion". How can the hon. member explain his government's decision to discontinue its research and development assistance to an industry whose self-sufficiency, throughout Canada, has gone from 23 to 45 per cent since 1976? Why are we informing the sheep industry that we are abandoning our research and development efforts, that we intend to rely even more, if possible, on imports?
How can the minister justify such a decision? We are not talking about protecting the Quebec market only, but about the conclusions of the Canadian Sheep Foundation, which is astounded by the decision.
My other question to the hon. member relates to shared jurisdiction. How can he explain that, in La Pocatière, where an agricultural technology institute run by the Quebec government and a federally-funded experimental farm are located, we are closing the farm without even informing the Quebec government, without proposing any other use for the buildings? Is that not another example of the major negative impact of shared jurisdictions such as the one that exists in agriculture?