Mr. Speaker, it is with great honour that I rise in the House to speak of the courage and resilience shown by farmers and ranchers in the great riding of Macleod.
In the past few years they have been devastated by droughts, where there was barely enough feed for the livestock and little grain to pay the bills. Then came plagues of grasshoppers and BSE. Now we face tariffs on our wheat and pork.
How can I assure them that the Liberal government will do all it can to help them? While producers are still waiting for CAIS payments from last year, Liberal cronies at Bombardier have received a $1.5 billion loan guarantee for a sale to Air Canada, which has just come out of bankruptcy.
With failed programs, corporate subsidies, members opposite defaming our largest and closest trading partners, what can we say to these ranchers and farmers?