Exactly. Attendance in the House shows that only one Liberal member is listening to the debate. I thank him for being here.
Canada is geographically the second largest country in the world. We can be number one in agriculture or at least make our agricultural accomplishments known at the international level. Remember that when we visit other countries people talk about Canadian wheat, but given the circumstances the farmers are surrounded by here I think it is a pity for the farming industry in general.
A few weeks ago I toured some farms in my constituency of Surrey Central. I was amazed by the particular initiatives of the farmers and how well some can do by diversification because they cannot survive with traditional farming practices. One farmer ventured into herb production and that farm is the largest herb and special plant producer in North America. Another farmer went into blueberries, Purewal Farms, and it is also the largest blueberry farm in North America.
Some smart farmers are shifting from traditional farming, and the government has to address that issue.
I have noticed so many particular issues like the wheat board, for example. Why would government interfere with the marketing of a specific commodity? Similarly, there is the labour code. Farm workers cannot apply for employment insurance. I compare that with the fishery industry. Why is there a double standard? The farmers do face crises in labour.
Some farmers told me that their vehicles were stopped on the road for safety inspections and their labourers, who worked hard all day from early in the morning until late in the evening, were left sitting on the side of the road for four and half hours. Why would the inspectors not go to the farms and examine the vehicles there?
There are so many things to consider, like pesticides. In Canada we of course want to be environmentally friendly and protect our environment, but certain pesticides are banned in Canada and not in the U.S. I understand where the government is coming from but look at the impact. Farm produce from the U.S., where those pesticides are used and help make farming more economical, is allowed into Canada and consumed in the Canadian market. Why not have standardization and look at it from the perspective of making our industry competitive? I believe that the farm industry in general is a business. Why is the business not profitable? It should be profitable.
We see the dumping of produce into the Canadian market, for example, tomatoes. I visited some B.C. hothouses, which are greenhouses where tomatoes are produced. They are having a crisis because the government does not address dumping by the U.S. tomato producers. Free trade is not fair trade. Our agriculture industry is paying the price.
Similarly with crop insurance, I notice that for the fruit producers in the Okanagan Valley when there is a climatic catastrophe the crops are not being properly insured, because crop insurance is a major issue for those farmers.
There are so many other issues I can mention but my time is up. I believe that the government should listen to the farmers, be proactive and make the farming industry profitable in Canada rather than having farmers selling farms and facing this crisis. Now that we have the recent situation of drought in the agricultural community, farmers are facing unprecedented difficulties. The Liberal government is completely ignoring the needs of the family farms and it is ruining rural Canada. The costs of the ongoing farming crisis and the impact of the drought are significant and the government needs to address that. The low commodity prices are affecting the farmers and the government is completely ignoring that too.
I believe the government should pay attention, look into the root causes of these problems and develop a strategic plan whereby the farmers are assured that they should have confidence in this industry and make their industry useful for the country, not only for the farmers but for the 31 million of us living in Canada.