Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Blackstrap.
As the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, which is the second largest cow calf producing county in the Province of Ontario, this debate is of particular significance to the farming community in my riding.
Last week the farmers in my riding had a meeting to discuss the ongoing crisis on the family farm, which has resulted from this single discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, or as it is now popularly known, mad cow disease.
On relatively short notice we had 400 to 500 farmers packing the Opeongo High School auditorium looking for answers and I have to congratulate Douglas area dairy farmer Preston Cull for taking the initiative in organizing the meeting that included speaker Ron Wooddisse, president of the Ontario Cattlemen's Association.
Farmers need cash in their hands right now. Leaving the announcement as to whether or not there will be any assistance as an election promise, rather than doing something now, only will be seen as a very cynical move on the part of the government. Waiting for the election is just too late.
Farmers do not want their livelihoods held hostage by an election. They know what the Prime Minister's record is on keeping election promises. In fact farmers as well as all Canadians are still waiting for the Prime Minister to keep his 1993 election promise to eliminate the GST.
Let us be clear. Even the Liberals' provincial cousins in Queen's Park are saying that Ottawa lacks the leadership in providing support to our farmers and it needs to do more to help the farmers. That is the Ontario Liberals saying the same thing. These words are right from the mouth of the Ontario provincial agriculture minister, which considering how little his government has done, seems to be practising the same Liberal policies at the provincial level as well.
Farmers, like all Canadians, listen to the news and read the papers. What farmers in my riding say, and I would expect cannot understand why, is that when it comes to money for such things as $2 billion for the Liberal gun registry, or $250 million for the sponsorship program, or $161 million for the Prime Minister's private, personal companies, or $500 million to cancel the helicopter contract only to turn around and spend $700 million to buy the same one, or $50 million to cancel the Pearson airport contract, why, when it comes to wasting taxpayers dollars like this, the former finance, now Prime Minister, was so quick to sign cheques. Yet, when it comes to helping save the farming industry, the government claims the cupboards are bare.
It is not right that the farmers are put into a position where they literally have to beg the government, especially considering what an important role in our economy that agriculture plays. No farmers means that we do not eat. Canadians are smart.
At the beef meeting held in my riding last week many farmers questioned the spending priorities of the government.
Phyllis Hartwig of Killaloe, who had the experience of the great depression, likened today's plight with farmers as worse than the dirty thirties. The prices of the cattle right now are about the same as they were in the 1930s. She also made the connection that the very money that has been wasted could have been used to help the farmers right across Canada.
All farmers are asking the very same thing. Why does the government always have money to waste on foolish things, but when it comes to something as important as our food supply, Ottawa has to be pushed, yelled at or shamed into doing the right thing and even when it does it, it usually gets it wrong?
Mr. Wooddisse, the president of the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, made the observation that there had been no shortage of meetings between the government and the farm organizations. Yet each time a financial package was agreed to, the farming organizations would leave the room only to find that when the government announced the details of a compensation package, it was completely different from the ones the farm organizations had agreed to with the government. It is time the government started listening to farmers. Farmers want answers.
Why is there such a huge difference between what our beef farmers are receiving at the farm gate and what consumers are paying at the store? At the auction barn on Tuesday, cattle went for less than 10¢ a pound. Yet even for regular ground beef, we are paying $2.00 a pound. Who is making all the money?
Farmers in my riding are also saying, and a show of hands was asked for by farmers at a public meeting, that if Canada needs to test every animal to gain the confidence of our trading partners, then let us just simply get on with it.
The time for talking about it is over. Farmers need action, and they need it now. Farmers are tired of the government telling them that it does not have any answers to this problem. It will be a year in May that the single case of BSE was found, and farmers are no further ahead in seeing an end to the crisis on the farm.
It is also interesting to note that while politicians were invited to attend the farm meeting last week, they did not want any of the Liberal politicians to stand up and speak. Such is the frustration in the farming community with some politicians.
I am pleased to confirm that the new Conservative Party of Canada does have a plan to help farmers. In the short term it is our intention to top off the farm income program. While the federal government has paid out only 60% of claims, we would pay out 100% of the accepted claims.
The BSE crisis has demonstrated the fact that we need more processing capacity in Canada and a new Conservative Party would budget $75 million to help build up that capacity. Before the crisis, we sent our animals to the United States only to purchase the meat in our own stores. A new Conservative government would help build the processing capacity right here in Canada.
A new Conservative government would provide $400 million to help cull herds to support the reduction of the excess mature cattle to restore the economies of scale on the farm. A new Conservative government would top up the CAIS program to deal with the deficiencies that the business risk component of the agricultural policy framework program recently introduced by the federal government.
The new Conservative Party would provide an additional $300 million to address the cash-on-deposit section of the CAIS program, as well as bolster the federal contribution of the crop insurance. We need to review the regulations on negative reference margins, and a new Conservative government would reinstate sectors like woodlot owners who were dropped from the coverage of the CAIS program.
Of particular interest to the cattle producers in my riding, a new Conservative government would provide interest free cash advances, primarily directed to cow-calf producers, at approximately $300 per calf-cow pair, and the loan would be repaid on the sale of the calf.
A new Conservative government would earmark $25 million to cover the interest on the loan guarantees to backgrounders and feedlot operators and for replacement of dairy heifers. The loans would be valued at approximately $200 per animal.
These are the short term measures a new Conservative government would undertake on behalf of farmers of Canada.
Mid and long term, we would be looking into implementing a number of other measures as the next government of Canada. The time for action is now.