Mr. Chairman, the parliamentary secretary remarked that we expanded to $23 billion worth of trade and that is true. The government set the target and farmers met it. However, in a brief to the Prime Minister's task force on September 11, the National Farmers Union said:
Over the past 25 years, Canadian agri-food exports have increased six-fold—from $4 billion in 1975 to approximately $25 billion today. As Figure 1 demonstrates, however, farmers’ net incomes have fallen over the same period. The current farm income crisis comes in spite of Canada’s tremendous success in winning market access and finding foreign customers.
The farmers have done their part. They have produced the products and the trade for which the government asked. We know that the U.S. and European Community are basically saying that they will continue to increase their subsidies.
I hope our negotiators are successful, but sometimes I feel they would make better diplomats than negotiators. I hope they prove me wrong this time. However if they are not successful, does the member believe that as a government we now have to send the message to other countries that this government will stand by the farm community and ensure that our levels—