Mr. Speaker, we will reduce subsidies but we will reduce them in conjunction with other countries, not ahead of them as has been done in the past.
It is this kind of inaction which has caused 26,000 farmers to leave the prairies in the last year alone. The average age of those who left is 60 years. Not only is the government failing to deliver on its promises, it is refusing to lower its staggering tax burden of $100 million on farm fuel. It refuses to allow farmers to process their own grain. It continues to support an antiquated transportation system which is costing farmers millions.
The government continues to be one of the largest stumbling blocks to a viable farm industry. What—