Mr. Speaker, it is a real honour to stand in favour of my colleague's motion. There is no doubt that the challenge to farmers these days is higher in all likelihood than it has ever been, although I remember as a youngster growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan that things were not very easy then either.
In the year I was born the farm had produced nothing for two years in a row. When I said in another speech in the House that I grew up very poor, it was because of that fact. When I came on the scene in 1939 two things happened: the drought came to an end and the war started. I do not know how we would correlate that.
Let me turn to the motion and the definition of farmers and the need for government help when they meet disaster. The speech of the parliamentary secretary gave one of our grievances out west. There seems to be an immediate program for disaster in some parts of the country. In no way are we insensitive and unsympathetic to that. However, we observe that when we have similar disasters in our part of the country the federal government seems to be much less sensitive to them. It seems to be very difficult for us to obtain help for those who need it.
There are many areas in which there seems to be a discriminatory attitude. I had an interesting case reported to me in my riding. A young farm couple was having a great deal of financial trouble making ends meet. It was tough. Income was slow and there were many pressures in terms of higher costs and the need to work long hours for a very low rate of return.
This couple found that there was federal legislation stacked against them. She had to take a part time job to pay the bills and keep the farm running. Lo and behold, she got in what we call euphemistically the family way. She is now eligible for UI, as most people are, having taken a job in one of neighbouring towns. It is one of the benefits under that program.
Because she also had an interest in a farm, the government applied some very stringent and unreasonable rules in computing their average, forcing them to take 15% of their gross income and apply it as income to the family. She only wished they could make 15% of their gross income; it was much less than that. As a result, she is ineligible for the UI benefits that everyone else receives. They were and are a family that is struggling financially.
In the north end of the wonderful constituency of Elk Island there are farmers who for two years in a row have not had a crop, either because of too much rain at the time of seeding or too much rain at the time of harvesting. They have not been able to get their income. As a result they are facing tremendous financial pressures.
Is there help for them? No. It does not seem to come from anywhere. Their financial distress is as severe as those who suffer from more immediate and sudden weather disasters, which we have heard a lot about in the last couple of years.
I emphasize again that I am neither unsympathetic to them nor saying in any way that they should be cut off. What I am saying is that there ought to be a system of equity applied so that different members of society and the farming community are treated equitably. Those with financial difficulties because of circumstances totally beyond their control as in the case of aberrant weather should have assistance from a government program as do others in different parts of the country.
A lot of people are part time farmers and part time everything else. Some farmers in my riding and elsewhere who among other things went into trucking because there was not enough income from the farm to keep the farm going. Consequently they get involved in trucking or some other part time business. They take employment in the oilfields or in my riding in some of the chemical plants. Some farmers in Saskatchewan had to take jobs in the potash mines just to supplement the farm income and keep on farming.
As a result they are ineligible in their farming operation for some other benefits. Even with the passing of the Crow rate there was some tremendous inequities because of the application of certain rules that apply on the federal scene.
I urge members of the House to support strongly my colleague's motion. Action should be taken. The motion was not drawn for being a votable motion so it appears, having had the pleasure of getting this off our hearts, nothing will be done about it. That is wrong. Action should be taken.
The motion is one of great importance and urgency. If we cannot vote on it in the House and bring in an act that will result in some changes, at least my colleague has brought the matter to our attention, to the attention of the government and to the attention of ministers who are in a position to do something about it.
If the government were to bring forward a bill to address the issue in the way my colleague is suggesting, it would receive the attention the House would be willing to give it. Certainly our party would support it, provided that it met the criteria my colleague is suggesting. We should do that.
I challenge the government and the minister to look at it, to treat it as a matter of urgency and to do something about it. It is not sufficient and it is not satisfying to me as a member of Parliament for farm families in my riding, in Athabasca, in some cases who have been in the farming business for years and for generations, to face the loss of their property at this stage. I urge the government to do something about it and to bring in a government bill that will bring this matter to a resolution.
I sincerely hope this will not have been just an hour of debate but that something will result from it.