Madam Speaker, I have not before, in my career in public life, seen this level of despair. This despair is not simply among farmers one might consider as business people, but also among families.
I will never in my life forget a conversation I had with a kindergarten teacher in rural Saskatchewan near Carnduff a little over a year ago. She told me the story of a five year old who had been missing classes because he had to go home and walk around to restore the confidence of his father who was on the verge of losing his farm. That is a terrible reversal of the roles that should exist in families.
What happened that night in Carnduff is happening across the country in agriculture. It is a human crisis, it is an economic crisis and it is a security crisis for Canada.
As to the government, my only explanation is that, try as he might, the minister of agriculture has no influence in the government. I have never before seen a government in which a minister of agriculture had so little influence. It makes me long for the days of Eugene Whelan.