Mr. Speaker, three things are clear from this motion: the failure of the government's agriculture income disaster assistance program; the need to set up an emergency program immediately to come to the aid of farmers, and the matter of the unfair subsidies paid by foreign countries to their farmers.
Our remarks will focus on these three points. The first is the government's failure with its AIDA program. The government has no compassion.
The federal income security program is a fiasco that ignores the reality faced by the farmers. The present situation in agriculture is proof that the AIDA program does not work and cannot guarantee farmers a decent standard of living. The government cannot simply wash its hands. It is responsible for the situation and is contributing to maintaining this farm income crisis situation.
The main problem, but not the only one, arises from the fact the AIDA program, as designed today, is denying the benefits to a number of producers that it was originally intended to provide. As it is currently designed, AIDA program will not distribute the $900 million in federal government funds set aside for farmers in the coming years. It will not enable the government to keep its promises of support.
AIDA therefore does not meet the needs of farmers. The problems posed by AIDA are many and prove that the federal government really does not know farmers. In its design, AIDA does not take account of the situation farmers are in.
Why are agriculture producers with a negative cost-price ratio being penalized? Why does the program set a ceiling on what a farmer can receive, and the method by which the ceiling is calculated means that the ceiling is lowered when the farmer is experiencing a crisis?
Why has the minister not made a commitment to producers to spend all of the announced $900 million? Why has the minister not made an exception in his assistance program to include the sheep producers who experienced heavy losses in the 1997 scrapie crisis and were ineligible for the $600 per capita compensation? Why has he not made that effort, given that it would have cost only about $1.5 million?
The flaws in the program are the fault of the government and will contribute to keeping farmers in a precarious situation. The rule on negative margins will seriously affect farmers who are in such situations this year.
Because of the sharp drop in commodity prices this past year, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture estimates that there will be 10,000 farms with negative margins. Is the federal government prepared to change its principles and to give consideration to these otherwise viable operations deserving of assistance? Is the government prepared to accept responsibility for the eventual disappearance of farm businesses because of the flaws in AIDA?
This situation notwithstanding, the federal government is doing nothing, thus giving proof of its lack of compassion. Why has it not followed the recommendations of its advisory committee?
In Quebec a revenue stabilization program has been in place for some twenty years. It is a three-way program, with the federal government contributing one-third.
The Quebec government is currently satisfied with the AIDA arrangement, because the province continues to manage its own program and the moneys received were used to lower participants' contributions. The same goes for those who do not have access to the stabilization program, but who benefit from NISA because, again, they are subsidized by the province and the program is managed by Quebec.
The second point is the need to take action to save farmers. Farmers are going through the worst crisis since the thirties. In Quebec, low prices for pork, down 34% from last year, have had a direct impact on farmers' income.
Faced with this situation, the government must continue to help the agricultural sector, particularly since it has the means to do so, while also complying with international agreements. However, if this government finally decides to act, the measures will have to be comprehensive because the agricultural issue concerns the whole country.
According to Statistics Canada, the net farm income went from $4 billion in 1989 down to $2 billion in 1998. In Quebec, the net farm income dropped by $10 million over that same nine year period. Based on estimates, Quebec's total net farm income will be $526 million, that is a 26% drop over the average income for the past five years.
The last point is subsidies made to the agricultural sector in foreign countries. Ottawa is more virtuous than necessary. According to Bob Friesen of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Ottawa went too far in that “Canada reduced subsidies beyond what was expected of it. Ottawa could do a lot more for farmers without violating trade agreements”.
For each dollar received by Canadian farmers, their American and European competitors receive $2.5 dollars, and this does not include the $8.6 billion that they just received in assistance.
In 1998, the OECD estimated that total support through agricultural policies amounted to $140 U.S. per capita in Canada, compared to $363 in the United States and $381 in Europe.
As we can see, the argument invoked by the Minister of Agriculture about the constraints imposed by the WTO is not valid. Let us not forget that, under the 1995 GATT agreement, the signatories pledged to reduce their farm subsidies by 15%.
Canada, ever virtuous, went for up to 50% of international guidelines, while the United States and the Europeans went for up to the full 100%. The Bloc Quebecois will always take the side of farmers when they are being oppressed.