Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Peace River for allowing me to have these few minutes to speak.
Today some members have said that they take great pleasure in standing to address this issue. I take no pleasure in addressing this issue. This debate should not have had to take place in this House.
I want to pick up on a point that my colleague from Peace River made a few minutes ago and which others made before him. They talked about what happened in 1993 when the Liberal government was first elected. Had the government at that time taken some of the advice that we had laid before the House on a program called TDAP, we would not necessarily have been in great shape and the crisis before us today may still have been there but not to the degree that it is. But time and time again over the last five years I have looked across the way and I have seen lawyers from downtown Toronto and downtown Winnipeg telling farmers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and northern British Columbia how to farm. That is indeed the problem.
This is a serious problem. I want to recount very quickly about what two people whom I have talked to in the last few days are doing.
One is a person about my age, a good friend of mine, who is a good farmer and has been a good farmer for many years. As we speak he is working on a potato farm in Outlook, Saskatchewan digging potatoes with a spade to make an extra buck to help pay his bills. That is how serious the problem is. It is not fun. It is not nice. The man is in his forties and should not have to resort to that.
I talked to another good friend of mine who is a good farmer. In fact he is a Liberal supporter quite clearly and openly and he still happens to be a good friend of mine. He said that he is going to quit the business because he is no longer prepared to take money out of his equity to keep farming. He is a good farmer. He is a great manager. He is one of the most optimistic people I know yet he is going to walk away from farming because of this problem. That is how serious the problem is.
This government has done nothing in the last five years for a long term approach, to make long term changes, so that these problems do not happen again.
My point in standing was to illustrate how serious the issue is. I want to illustrate that nothing has been done. We look at what the long term solution should be or could be. Yes, we should still continue to work on a long term solution to the income crisis of farmers because this happens from time to time over and over again. This will not be the last time. There will be more down the road.
I encourage the government to look at a long term solution. I encourage the government to finally listen, to pay heed to not only our party but to other parties in this House and other groups that may have possible solutions. I would also have to ask this government to look at possible short term solutions. After all, the crunch will come between now and next April when farmers will not be able to put in their crops.
I talked about two farmers whom I know personally who are on the edge of quitting a business and an industry that they love because they cannot make a dollar at it. They have done their share over the last few years. They have diversified. They have changed their way of farming in order to be economically feasible. These farmers have done their share. The government has not done its share.