Madam Speaker, I commend the right hon. member for his remarks. I also commend the member opposite, the hon. member for Toronto—Danforth, who has a great personal interest in the issue and has taken initiatives that have furthered the cause of those in crisis in agriculture.
My question for the right hon. member focuses on remarks he made about priorities. I would also put to him that this is an issue of leadership. With respect to the department of agriculture, I have a quote from one of the Liberal members from Prince Edward Island. An article that was in the Guardian newspaper quotes the hon. member for Malpeque as saying:
The underlying problem from the start has been that the very department (Ag Canada) supposed to be working in the interest of the farmers has been the greatest obstacle.
He goes on to say:
—but to be honest, it's virtually useless talking to Ag Canada—
That was a quote from a Liberal member.
The situation in Prince Edward Island is outside the normal circumstances of federal-provincial problems. The P.E.I. industry has made large sacrifices to protect the rest of Canada and there is no certainty that the U.S. border will even be open for the remainder of the year.
I wonder if the right hon. member could focus a little bit on that situation, on the lack of leadership shown there, and on the fact that the federal government has come up with less than half of what P.E.I. potato farmers were looking for to address their problem.