Mr. Speaker, if repeated calls from the Canadian Alliance were not enough to convince the government that agriculture is in the throws of a crisis, perhaps the Prime Minister should consider the latest StatsCan figures which indicate that there are 26,200 fewer farm workers on the prairies this fall than there were last fall.
Sadly, there is no reason to expect this trend to stop. Input costs are soaring out of control, commodity prices remain at record lows and poor weather across the country has affected crop yields.
But this should come as no surprise to the Prime Minister. The Canadian Alliance action for struggling agricultural producers report warned that 75% of farmers surveyed thought the future of agriculture was bleak.
Perhaps the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Prime Minister should have a look at ISAP report that the Canadian Alliance sent them this spring before they get any more nasty surprises.