Mr. Speaker, delegates who attended the recent Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual meeting had one important message on cost recovery to make very clear. From potato growers in Prince Edward Island through wheat growers on the prairies to apple growers in British Columbia, the message was the same. The government has this issue all wrong.
Farmers from coast to coast will have a smaller net income this year because of other government policy decisions. On top of lower incomes and higher input costs, the government is heaping additional increased costs on everything from inspection fees to marine steerage fees on to the backs of farmers. It seems like this very unsympathetic Liberal government has decided to turn user fees into a source of revenue for the government.
It is time to re-evaluate the cumulative effect of what has been done, and in consultation with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and other farm groups, revisit the whole issue of cost recovery programming.