Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for Athabasca for bringing Motion No. 11 before the House. It enables us to speak to the very crucial and important area of part time farmers.
We recognize farming in general as one of the stronger frameworks of Canadian society. That is where the permanent settlement is. These are the people who come into an area and make a commitment, not to stay for a year or two or three but perhaps in many cases for generations.
As my friend from Athabasca indicated these are extraordinary families. Farming is not a job. It is a life. It is a lifestyle. It is a career where one works in a sense 24 hours a day. Not only does the farmer work but the entire family works, friends probably join and extended families become part of the operation. It is one of those aspects of economic development that does not fit the usual economic model. We are talking about people who are prepared to devote their lives to developing a farm.
As others have indicated, obviously for many this starts off as a part time operation. That is the way, particularly these days, for young people to get into farming or in British Columbia, in my area, what we normally call ranching. One cannot afford the money to simply take over an operation on a scale that will enable the making of a decent living.
Consequently most farmers or ranchers I know have to seek off farm work to make a go of it unless it is a huge corporate operation. Those running the typical family farm or ranch are inevitably driving a school bus, working at part time teaching, running a gravel pit on the side, or who knows what.
In other words, it does not take much for farmers to find themselves in situations where they consider themselves to be full time regular farmers but find out that half their income has to come from someplace else to make a go of it. That is the nature of the business and I think we acknowledge that.
My hon. colleague from Athabasca has provided a very valuable service to the country. I have had consultations with my colleagues from Winnipeg—Transcona, Winnipeg North Centre, and the leader of the New Democrats in Manitoba, the member of Parliament for Provencher.
In the area of Manitoba that experienced serious flooding problems there are still hundreds and hundreds of farmers who have not received any support as a result of all types of jurisdictional disputes and in my judgment some rather insensitive political leadership in that province. That is the area I know best in terms of the details.
Let us look at the disasters that have befallen many food producers, farmers and ranchers in Alberta, northern British Columbia and elsewhere. When these folks apply for support in recognition of a natural disaster that has occurred in their region, they are told that there is no support, that there are no programs available. Yet, when the same thing happens in other parts of Canada, lo and behold there are all kinds of programs, all kinds of support.
As my friend has indicated even then there they have problems. If one point becomes clear today, it is that the whole area of farmers dealing with natural disasters and receiving some kind of support or encouragement to get them through these difficult periods has to be re-examined.
We have the interdepartmental task force but that is not where the answer will lie. It is a cumbersome process, to begin with. The agricultural committee, as my hon. friend has indicated, might be a place to begin. My suggestion would be that the next time agricultural ministers from territorial and provincial governments across the country get together with the federal minister of agriculture, one of the items on the agenda should be how to deal with this issue in the future.
Flooding will not stop this year. Ice storms may not stop this year. We certainly hope they do but they will probably come back. Some form of natural disaster will occur.
If there is one thing we have learned it is that existing programs do not work well. They do not treat people fairly. They are not offered in an equitable and fair way. Some farmers are eligible; others are not. Some parts of the country seem to me to be treated different from other parts of the country when it comes to farmer support during natural disasters.
The whole thing is kind of a hodge-podge and we need to acknowledge that. There is a serious problem. The parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture in his speech today acknowledged that point. While we send the issue off to the interdepartmental task force, that is one step but it is not good enough.
We owe the member a great deal of gratitude for bringing this matter to our attention today. The issue of farming and the fact that people have to seek off farm employment to survive as a legitimate farmer these days has to be acknowledged.
We are moving into a whole new world of hemp cultivation. The federal government announced that regulations were in place so people could start growing what I call industrial marijuana or hemp. This is a new enterprise. When we consider that there are 50,000 identified uses for hemp, this will provide an awful lot of marginal farming operations with one other crop they can pursue as long as those markets are developed appropriately.
Let us deal with the whole issue of what is a legitimate farmer. What is a legitimate part time farmer? What is a hobby farmer? We acknowledge that hobby farming is a reasonable category as well. Then let us identify appropriate ways to compensate farmers for natural disasters, when, where and if they occur, in a fashion that is fair, justifiable and equitable to all.