Mr. Speaker, yesterday's budget offers no new hope for Canada's farming community and is seriously out of balance. The Liberals have repeated their failure to deliver meaningful programs for farm families and the Minister of Finance has once again ignored agriculture.
Yesterday was an opportunity for the Liberals to outline the details of their vision for the future of farming. Sadly the budget gives no details on how the government intends to move producers beyond crisis management.
Farmers across the country who continue to face disastrously low world commodity prices now have to contend with the impact of this year's national drought. There is no question that these producers need adequate emergency assistance for short term survival. Yet the Liberals offered no prospect that any new help is forthcoming. Farm families deserve better.
The federal government's priorities must change. Wasteful spending must stop and dollars be reallocated to critical areas like agriculture. The Liberal government failed to adjust its misplaced priorities in the budget.