Mr. Speaker, precisely what is happening is nothing. There has been an impasse in the negotiations and the government has given us no indication of how it will move this forward.
The union and the government are at loggerheads. I think the financial harm, the loss of productivity, the drastic economic conditions in agriculture all make it incumbent on us as elected members in the House of Commons to debate this issue and show a consensus or a full airing of all the issues involved in this strike action and the repercussions on Canada as a whole.
I believe that would be very beneficial in moving this strike along. The government and the unions have known since 1993 that the wage freeze that was in place was to end and that it has ended. Why there could not have been something in place I do not know.
I am not here asking for this emergency debate to determine why things happened or why things are not moving ahead so much as reinforcing that this is an emergency to the Canadian economy. It is an emergency to farmers and their families, to the union people and their families. It is the duty of the House of Commons to do everything possible. I believe this is an emergency.