Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure, but moreover, it is indeed my responsibility to enter some remarks, on behalf of my party and my riding, to the economic crisis that is affecting every single region and every single riding of this country. In one way or another this pertains to the fact that our border has been closed to safe Canadian beef products going to our principal trading partner, and our friend I might add, the United States of America.
To illustrate how tragic this particular crisis actually is, Madam Speaker, I know you are well aware of the fact that $11 million has been lost each and every day to the Canadian economy due to this border closure. In addition, to make the number even more stark, over the last four months, since this border has been closed, it has been estimated that we have lost in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars to the point that many family farms are questioning whether they are going to be able to continue throughout this process.
I have not seen a more callous and disrespectful lack of leadership since I have been in this chamber over the last six and a half years, than we have received from the Prime Minister and the government on this crisis.
This is an issue that our leader, the hon. member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, has pointed out and made very clear. This needs all hands on deck. This is not a partisan initiative by any means. We are calling on the House, this chamber, to put its shoulder to the wheel and do what is best for all farmers and for the beef industry in Canada. We are asking for an all party delegation to go to the United States, our trading partner and friend, and show that we have a safe, sound food safety system and that there is no need for our border to be closed to livestock at this point in time.
Government members have said that we are the first government that has actually had any kind of a border opening when a country has had a BSE case and had the border partially reopened. Let us be clear. The border is 70% still closed right now. We are losing $11 million per day. So far, the government has not done enough. It is completely and categorically insufficient.
Moreover, we have a duty as a nation to look at this issue from an international perspective as well. What signal does it send to the international community when a progressive country like Canada has a single case of BSE? We have a progressive and modern system to be able to trace the lineage of that cow which was detected to have BSE. We can determine what herd that cow was actually in. We can tell its entire life history in terms of where this cow has been and we have taken a number of steps to ensure that our system is safe.
What signal does it send to another country which happens to discover a BSE cow? Do we think that country will be as progressive as Canada has been in terms of fessing up to the international community, but moreover proving that we had our act together? We need to have this border open not only for the preservation of our own economy, for our own beef industry, but we need to ensure that responsible behaviour throughout this world takes place with respect to food safety and that we have an international perspective.
There are so many sectors of this industry which are really taking it on the chin right now. I would like to take a moment to speak to two particular sectors which are front and centre in the riding of Fundy--Royal that I have the privilege of representing.
One sector I would like to speak to pertains to the dairy industry. Many people think this is a beef cattle issue and it is. However, it also means that dairy cattle cannot go to the United States. Many farmers breed dairy cattle for export. That industry is now closed. There is even a probability that cows over three years in age will likely not be shipped to the United States for a number of years even if we did have the border open to a livestock perspective.
We also know that it is paramount that farmers refresh and renew their dairy herds. Part of that process is the fact that culled cows must be rendered at a facility. Quite often those culled cows may be even shipped stateside to be rendered. Moreover, given that we have an incredible surplus in rendering products, we know that culled cows from dairy farmers are only receiving a pittance compared to what they had received in the past.
Madam Speaker, I intend on sharing my time with my colleague who has joined us to participate in this very important debate, the member for Cumberland—Colchester.
There is a clear consensus that actually rests within the agricultural community from the provincial level in terms of what needs to be done. We need almost $200 million of immediate farm aid just to bridge the beef industry over the next number of months. I am saddened by the fact that we have not been able to convince the minister of agriculture to make the contribution that is required with respect to ensuring the preservation of the beef industry.
The provincial agriculture ministers have not managed to convince their federal counterpart. There is consensus on the fact that $195 million is needed to lessen the impacts on cattle producers.
It will cost $200 million. We have a clear consensus of what needs to be done to bridge this particular issue.
Another sector that I would like to highlight in my remaining time hits very close to home, about 30 kilometres from my house. The province of New Brunswick does not have a kill facility at the present time. One particular trucking company, Valley View Farms, which is Jim Sherwood's operation, has had an 80% drop in business since the outbreak in Alberta of BSE in this one cow.
Truckers carrying livestock have incredibly specialized equipment to transport livestock in a very humane way. The price impact may actually mean about a $2,000 payment per month for only one trailer. If a trucker were to have a fleet of 20 trailers that would mean a $40,000 payment. These individuals obviously have loans that must be repaid and no means to be able to address those loans.
I am calling on the Government of Canada to ensure that we maintain the infrastructure that is necessary for transporting live cattle. If we do not have bridge financing for those transporters, that sector of the beef industry will not be there once the border does open up. These truckers must be included in this framework as well.