Mr. Chair, before speaking to this debate, I would first like to thank the voters of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques for putting their trust in me and electing me. I want to reiterate to everyone in my riding my commitment to represent them with integrity and vigour.
I thank my colleague, the member for Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, for her speech. I fully agree with her that the mad cow crisis never should have affected the agricultural industry in Quebec since, for a long time now, cattle producers in Quebec have been using rules that are stricter than in the rest of Canada.
The Lower St. Lawrence region was hit hard by this mad cow crisis, and is still suffering the consequences. I would like to quote the president of the Union des producteurs agricoles of the Lower St. Lawrence, Claude Guimond, who reiterated as recently as last week that, “There is a crisis, a serious crisis. It is huge and devastating.” He added that he truly feared for the future and that the producers felt abandoned by the government.
In the Lower St. Lawrence, this crisis affects more than 1,000 farms that have suffered losses in gross income estimated at roughly $17 million. The three RCMs that I have the privilege of representing, Rimouski-Neigette, Témiscouata and Les Basques, have roughly 50% of the affected farms. After deducting the assistance provided to the Lower St. Lawrence, there is still a real shortfall of $7 million for local farmers and action is urgently required.
I fully agree with what the hon. member said. The government has to act. The necessary measures have to be taken without delay in order to reopen the borders and to ensure that they stay open. The government should also use Quebec as a model for health regulations.
I heard the minister say that some problems and challenges are specific and unique to Quebec. I would like to ask my colleague if, in the whole issue of cull, she is prepared to remind the minister that we in Quebec are not only unique—which is regrettable in terms of our difficulties in this area—but that we are often very unique in finding solutions to our challenges.