Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in this debate on farm income.
This past weekend my constituents in the riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore watched with great interest the various news reports on the serious situation facing farmers across the country.
Yes, we are an urban riding. Etobicoke—Lakeshore has no agricultural sector in its economic base. Economic activities in Etobicoke—Lakeshore are concentrated in the service and manufacturing sectors. Nonetheless, the issue at hand affects us all as Canadians.
Etobicoke—Lakeshore relies heavily on the agriculture base of the Canadian economy to provide it with fresh fruit, produce and other products. In light of this reality, I offer the support of the people of Etobicoke—Lakeshore to all of the farmers in Canada during this crisis.
Farming is one of those activities that is the mainstay for many communities. Indeed, without farming in various regions of the country many communities would cease to exist economically.
Etobicoke—Lakeshore cares about the livelihood of these communities. The problems they face concern us all. Communities across Canada are all a part of this economic system and when one part is affected it could lead to disruption throughout the entire system.
There is a food terminal in Etobicoke—Lakeshore that distributes food from all over the country to various local businesses so they, in turn, can supply all Etobians. I can only imagine the impact of this crisis on that operation at present.
I am encouraged by the spoken words, the passion and the conviction of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. His conviction as he faces this serious situation in farm income has buoyed my sentiments and stirred in me the fact that he is joining together with all partners to bring about a resolution. I know his commitment. I listened and my constituents listened. We know he will respond and that his response will be the assistance that farmers need.
A senior in my constituency asked why they are facing this problem. I will give a few answers, as I understand them.
Demand for key agricultural products in Asia and Russia has been drastically reduced as the buying power of consumers has shrunk. The global financial crisis in farm income here in Canada cannot be de-linked. Combine this with simultaneous cyclical price downturns in grain, hogs, cattle and pockets of poor production in some areas and we get a situation in which many producers are seeing a pretty significant reduction in income this year.
Some members of this House would argue that the answer to these problems is insulation from the global economy, but that reflects a simplistic view of the world rather than compassion for those affected by this crisis. Offering complaints cannot be equated with offering solutions, and people need workable solutions.
Talk of removing Canada from global markets, from international trade or from the need to export makes great rhetoric, but it will not make one iota of difference to the financial security of men and women working on Canadian farms, and neither will bland complaints about not getting everything we want, when we want it, from trade negotiations.
Let us do our farmers justice by limiting the rhetoric and instead working together to offer practical responses to a complicated problem. The responsibility of governing demands that we offer the pragmatic, not the dramatic.
As this government has done in the past, we will continue to work with farmers and provincial governments to put programs in place that are equitable and available to all in need, no matter what province they live in. We will work with those same partners to develop a strong, united and compelling position for international trade negotiations.
In bringing forth long term and short term responses to this serious situation we are committed to both collaboration and co-operation. We have our minister's word and I know our minister's word is meaningful.
Canadian farmers have a right to expect such an approach to this problem. There is no room for theatrics or one-upmanship given the nature and the magnitude of the problem. We need all members from all sides of the House to work together.
In studying this issue I discovered some facts. Our most recent farm income figures—and let me underline that these were developed with the provinces—show that at the national level overall net farm income is down 4% from the average of the last five years and down 20% from 1997. For a city girl, this is really terrible news.
Of course, that aggregate number hides the problems we know exist. Some parts of the country are suffering worse than others. Depending on the commodity, some producers are practically unaffected while others are hurting really badly.
We know that there are very serious problems in the hog and grains sectors. My colleagues who come from those sectors speak to me about it. The majority of hog producers are in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, but Prince Edward Island has significant hog production and has also been affected. The majority of grain farmers are in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. There are also grain farmers in Ontario.
Meanwhile we must not forget that other producers have experienced serious drought and even outbreaks of disease, such as scrapie. This is the full context of the farm income situation and we must recognize all the forces at work. Doing this will help us to bring sense to the numbers.
Looking at these problems regionally, we see that in Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Manitoba the situation is particularly serious. In fact, realized net farm income is forecast to be down 40% this year in P.E.I. and Manitoba, while in Saskatchewan farm income could fall almost 70% relative to the previous five year average. Unfortunately, current forecasts also predict that those who are having trouble this year are not likely to see improvements next year.
I know that there are a great many people in communities coast to coast who are facing hardship and are looking to the Government of Canada for relief and assistance. And there are other pressing issues that demand the attention of the federal government.
Politics is the art of making decisions. It is not running one against the other. We must find a way to do the best we can for all these people. The farm income situation is not one that the government is going to retreat from, any more than it will retreat in the face of any challenge. We want to fix this problem as quickly as possible in order to bring some sense of calm back to a sector that has become increasingly desperate in recent days.
Moving forward, not backward, requires partnership between all levels of government. This is what we must do. There is never a place for adversarial relationships between federal and provincial governments. In this situation the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has made it clear that he wants to work with all in addressing the situation.
Together with farm organizations and all levels of government, we need to bring about a solution. Solutions will come from hard work and from working together and forming those partnerships. Effective programs will be produced by this approach.
Will it be flashy? No. Will it be a total cure? I think we must be humble. There are no quick, easy or total solutions. Workable and meaningful solutions do not have to be flashy or miraculous in order to make a difference. Making a difference is part of governing.
The Government of Canada is committed to making a difference in the farm income situation. All members on all sides of the House should join together in finding short term and long term solutions for our farmers.