Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to what my honourable colleague had to say, and I would like to ask him a question about the impact of this crisis on the next generation.
Yesterday, I visited the Institut de technologie agricole, in La Pocatière, along with the leader of the Bloc Quebecois. We met with about 15 students, interested in various areas of the farm industry. We listened to their needs and asked them what the future holds for them in agriculture. They kept asking us what exactly the federal government intends to do to reduce their incredibly high debt load to a more reasonable level.
Dairy farmers, whose extra income from cull cows often represents 20 to 25% of their total farm income, told us, “What we are losing now is what used to pay my own wages, or what used to be my father's wages”. What can we expect?
With another $7 billion surplus this year, should the federal government not put into place a more humane approach to prevent people from moving away from the farm? People who have lived all their lives on the farm are now losing their savings.
Should the federal government not take more drastic measures? Should it not set up a new program to provide assistance to beef producers and milk producers for whom this is an important source of income?
Should we not expect some kind of financial assistance from the federal government first to deal with this problem and then to promote economic renewal?