Mr. Chair, it is nice to see such passion at this time of the evening. I wish that passion had been there when we needed it, at the very beginning of this crisis when we could have perhaps done something about it.
My colleague and I represent 70% of the ranchers in British Columbia. They are independent people. They are hardworking people who never ask for help. No matter what the weather is like, no matter what the conditions are, no matter what is happening in their families, they have a job to do and they do it without complaint.
The fault lies with the government. The government did not do enough at the very beginning. In my opinion, it has not done enough since the crisis hit to save these people's livelihoods. The government brought them to their knees. Some ranches have been in my riding for over 100 years. Ranchers have now been brought to their knees, not through their own incompetence, not through something they did, but through something over which they had absolutely no control. It was in the hands of government. This problem has been mishandled from the beginning.
I am not standing here tonight to bash the government. I am standing here tonight to tell the House that I want a cooperative effort made to open the borders and to save an industry that is in dire jeopardy.