Mr. Speaker, like others, I too welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate. I certainly thank the Speaker for allowing it.
This discussion must be held. We have heard many points of view all evening. There is much grumbling, much criticism, but there has been very little put forward as an absolute solution.
I will say that I am concerned in these important debates that for some reason, and we are no better on this side than they are on the other side, but we get into a we are right and they are wrong discussion. At the end of the day sometimes we are no farther ahead than when we started. I am concerned about that.
I want to try to put a human face on the issue. It is very serious for those farmers, families, communities and small businesses that are affected very personally by the drought and some of the serious weather patterns that have happened over the last number of years. Lives and livelihoods are being jeopardized. Some people are losing their farms.
It is not easy to lose one's life work. I have seen this happen in the farm movement over many years. Generally, people who have not lived on a farm, raised livestock or grown a crop cannot understand how it affects a farmer and his family when a herd is lost, or even to sell a few of the herd that a life's work or even generations before have put their life's work in terms of building the genetics of the herd. The same can be said for crops.
Simply put, it is like losing a member of the family. Their blood, sweat and tears are in that herd and in that crop. Their ancestry and previous generations in many cases have their life's work in that farming endeavour.
This debate is not just about an income loss. We have talked a lot tonight about money, but this is much more serious than about a few bucks, whether it is the government's dollars or somebody else's. This has a very serious personal impact on operations, on families and on communities. It is a loss of a part of their life.
To put it into perspective, I will use the example of a dairy herd. It may be four generations ago that some individual in a family decided to improve the genetics for milk production, for body type or whatever. That whole individual's life would have been spent trying to get the breeding right, improving it slowly generation after generation of cattle, and then generation after generation in the family. Then there is no feed and no money to buy feed. The banker calls and there is no option left but to sell the herd. Then it is not just an animal that is being sold, it is something that generations of the family put there. It is not just a simple sale. There is a tremendous human cost which cannot be measured in dollars.
Let us take a moment to look at the drought itself. Statistics Canada noted in a publication:
Crop receipts dropped to a seven year low, while livestock receipts fell after three consecutive years of increase.
This finding was released by Statistics Canada on August 26 this year. The report states that the findings released do not take into account the “extreme weather seen on farms during the 2002 growing season”. It is very serious in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the impact has been devastating.
For the 2001 season the Canadian Federation of Agriculture indicated that the impact of the drought was felt across the country. In my home province of P.E.I., potato yields were down between 20% and 60%. That was last year. In Ontario soybean yields were 50% to 60% of normal. In Alberta grain harvests were down from 20% to 80%.
The impact of the drought in 2002 on livestock producers has been estimated by the NFU. A farmer without access to hay will have to buy up to three tonnes of feed per cow. At an estimated cost of $150 per tonne, the cost per cow could over the coming year reach $450 or even higher. That figure does not include additional costs for water and other losses incurred from the selling of cattle in a depressed market.
The drought is certainly having a very serious impact. Yes, the Government of Canada, through the minister, spoke earlier. I believe the minister has been trying to do all that he can in the situation.
The Government of Canada has made some major strides in assisting agriculture: the $5.2 billion over six years announced in the spring; the NISA accounts; the agricultural policy framework; and crop insurance. The community, eventually assisted by the government, has come in with what has become known as the Hay West campaign. I think members from both sides of the House have worked very hard to try to get hay from surplus areas to areas where it is needed. I know there has been quite an effort in my home province in that regard. Certainly that has been helpful but it does not solve the problem.
The bottom line is does more need to be done? Absolutely. Certainly. We have to seriously look at a special disaster program or maybe change the methods of the current relief programs available. I heard some members speak tonight about the ice storm and the Red River floods. Yes, they received disaster relief out of the regular disaster relief fund. As I understand it, what happens in agriculture does not trigger that fund so perhaps we need to look at that definition. In any event, I really believe we have to look at a special disaster relief fund for these kinds of situations. The regular kind of programming just does not deal with the issue.
I want to very quickly look at what is happening south of the border. We have to understand where our neighbours are coming from. On September 19 the United States agriculture secretary, Ann Veneman, announced an assistance package of $752 million for livestock producers suffering from the current drought in the western states. The United States has several programs: a conservation reserve program; an emergency conservation program; emergency disaster loans; an environmental quality program; a wildlife habitat program; a non-insured assistance program; and a cattle feed assistance program. Certainly it is putting money into its industry and we have to recognize that.
The bottom line is that it is a very serious situation. The Government of Canada, the country as a whole and the citizens of the country have to take the issue seriously. We seriously have to look at a special disaster program that would accommodate these kinds of weather situations that the other programs do not look after.