Mr. Speaker, over the course of the last several months, including at a federal-provincial conference of agriculture ministers which was held this past summer in Victoria, I have had the opportunity to consider the structure of the Alberta program. It is fair to say that the program is raising concerns among provincial agriculture ministers in several other provinces and among various producer organizations.
One of the fundamental objectives of our new generation of farm safety nets is to try to ensure to the maximum extent humanly
possible that various forms of programming, both federal and provincial, across this country are fair and equitable for producers and as among various regions.
The hon. gentleman can be assured that the Government of Canada will be watching very closely to make certain that all programs are applied in an equitable manner so that all farmers in every corner of this country are treated fairly.