Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member opposite on her first day in the House and her first speech.
I also would like to congratulate the member for Davenport. I have had an opportunity to visit the country he mentioned, Portugal, which is almost as beautiful as Canada.
I listened to the member give great praise for the throne speech. I would like to remind her of some things that have taken place in this country in the last number of years, one being that the agricultural community in this country from coast to coast has gone through years of drought and has been left absolutely devastated.
As well, producers have suffered through decades of low commodity prices. The family farm is being eroded and is disappearing. Now we are mired in the worst crisis, arguably, that agriculture in this country has ever faced: the BSE crisis.
As a whole, the agriculture sector in this country lost money last year. When we add up all the revenues and all the problems in agriculture, we get an unbelievable statistic.
The member mentioned her family and people in her constituency, but people in my constituency are losing their livelihood. Some are even threatening to take their own lives because of the desperation the agricultural community is facing.
I have to give credit to the finance minister. In the budget he presented last year, he had at least a half a sentence on agriculture. In the throne speech today, there are only three letters on agriculture. It is unbelievable. I would ask the member to stand up and justify this throne speech when it comes to the agricultural community.