Mr. Speaker, the crisis situation I referred to in my letter to you asking for an emergency debate absolutely involves the statistical analysis of Statistics Canada, which has clearly indicated that farm incomes will be flat and will be dropping as a result of low commodity prices and the actions of our competitors.
This emergency arises now because last fall the standing committee on agriculture held hearings on the problem. As a result of those hearings and the report that was put forward it was determined by the government that the only problem was a sharp drop in income for farmers for 1998-99. According to Statistics Canada, the truth of the matter is that during the past five or six years incomes have been dropping to very low levels and they are projected to remain flat.
The fact is, the federal government has addressed a short, two year program that is not providing money to the majority of farmers. That is the reason we must have an emergency debate. The government has not addressed the issue. Farmers are going bankrupt. Calls to the Brandon, Manitoba stress line for farmers are up three times over what they were a year ago.
We are dealing with a true crisis. The number of farm groups coming to Ottawa to stress their point to the minister requires that we in the House debate the issue to bring forward what the real problem is and what the solutions are.