Mr. Speaker, I wish to indicate that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Skeena. As I understand it, it will be the standard procedure, where we have 10 minutes of remarks followed by five minutes for questions and comments.
First of all, it is appreciated, certainly by the official opposition, the Conservative Party of Canada, that we have this opportunity to bring the House up to speed on the situation in our own ridings, and to present the case for some immediate action above and beyond what little the government has done on this file.
I can tell members that the situation in all of Canada, certainly in western Canada with which I am most familiar, is grave. That goes for Prince George--Peace River, a prominent cattle country part of Canada. In the Peace River region, on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, we have a large grain and livestock producing region. Likewise, in and around the Prince George area, and down in the McBride area that will be added to my riding under boundary redistribution, there are a lot of cattle farmers and cattle producers of both cow and calf, and feedlot operators. The situation has reached or passed crisis proportions.
We have family businesses that in some cases have been in business for two or three generations. They are virtually on the verge of losing all their equity and going out of business. It is that serious.
I can tell members that the average Canadian out there needs to understand the seriousness of this issue. This is not a case of the member of Parliament for Prince George--Peace River standing here and crying wolf. This is serious business and I want to make that abundantly clear today. When we have a situation where individuals have struggled not for one lifetime but in some cases for two or three lifetimes to build up a business, and they are on the verge of losing it through no fault of their own, it should send a chill up our spines.
This is not a case where somebody made a bad business decision. This is not a case where they overextended themselves or they wanted to take a holiday and go to Hawaii rather than reinvesting their money. These people have their backs to the wall, and I would argue that the government, while recognizing it in rhetoric, has done precious little to alleviate their pain in order that they may be in a position to pay their bills.
These are proud people. When we look at the history of the nation, cattle producers have very seldom come looking for assistance from government. They are independent people. But my God, their backs are up against the wall this time. They have had to come and say that they need some help to get over this hump, and if we want a cattle industry in Canada, they need some help.
I can tell members of the outrage in Prince George--Peace River over the last number of days, when it became clear that $250 million had been blown out the window with this sponsorship program at the same time that people were losing their farms, their ranches and their feedlots. There is a growing anger across this land, and I hope the government is listening.
What has changed since last Wednesday? What have we heard from the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food? What have we heard from the new Prime Minister? What have we heard from the government that would indicate a ray of hope for the cattle industry in Canada since our take note debate held last Wednesday night, participated in by members of Parliament from all parties including government members who spoke very eloquently and passionately about the plight of farmers in their ridings, as well as they should?
Regardless of what party we represent in the House, first and foremost I would argue that we represent real people in real situations, whether we are from the back country of Ontario or northern British Columbia where I come from. These are real people with real problems and they are suffering right now.
What has changed since our take note debate? Has there been any ray of hope? I would argue, no. I have not seen anything. No one follows the news closer than members of Parliament. Every day we get news clippings and we scan them to see what is happening, not only here in Ottawa but across the land so that we are kept up to speed about what is happening in our regions, our provinces and in the country as a whole.
I have not seen anything coming from the government from last Wednesday that would indicate to the people in my riding or elsewhere that there is a ray of hope or that we are going to turn a corner with this crisis. That has to be extremely depressing and troubling for these farmers and ranchers as they struggle with this crisis day-to-day.
It is not just one or two individuals. It is families and in many cases, young families. I cannot imagine what it is like for those young children to come home to the farm or ranch right now and see the look of anguish on the faces of their parents as they struggle with what they must believe is hopelessness. They are looking for a little bit of hope from the government and they are not getting it.
Despite their best efforts, farmers are now facing an added catastrophe. They are running out of feed for their animals because their business was not built upon having these animals feed all winter long. Anybody who understands the first thing about animals and about agriculture and farming knows that in cold weather an animal eats a lot of feed to maintain its body heat to keep it sustained when it is outside in minus 20° to minus 30° weather.
Some of these farmers have had a real struggle to get good quality feed for the winter and now they find that the animals that would have gone to market are still on the farm because they are virtually worthless. Farmers have to scrounge up the feed. It must seem to them that they are pouring this money down a bottomless pit with no hope on the horizon.
I think we all understand what is necessary. It is necessary for the government to make the admission here and now that the program it has put in place is a great disappointment. It is a failure. The government must recognize that. The money is not getting through to the people who need it. Farmers have not seen any increase in their income so that they can sustain their operations for the short term to hopefully get over this hump. We need an immediate cash infusion.
I heard that last Wednesday night from all parties, including the governing party and I certainly hear it all across the land. I implore the government to revisit this issue and find the money to support our cattle producers instead of putting it into sponsorship programs.