Madam Chair, I will be brief. I see there is a member across the way who also wishes to pose a question.
One thing that was noted earlier in the debate, which I want to pay tribute to, was the fact that it had not only been farmers trying to help farmers through this crisis, but, as was pointed out by a number of people, also Canadian consumers had responded tremendously across the country to try to assist the agricultural sector and specifically beef producers through this crisis.
Unfortunately, their best efforts have actually worked in reverse to what they were trying to do. It is rather ironic that with beef consumption up, recently we had a spokesperson for I think it was Canada Safeway say that there was no need to bring down the price because demand was up. In other words, the packing plants, which the member referred to, and the supermarkets seem to be doing quite fine, thanks very much, and the money is not filtering down to the farmer.
Even though the Canadian consumers out there are responding at the marketplace and trying to assist farmers, it has not been helping.
I would wonder when the Competition Bureau said, quite rightly I suppose, that it was really a basic tenet of supply and demand and because demand was up, then there really was no room to rule in favour of price collusion.
The member also made the same note that a number of us have made, that the industry and particularly farmers need money now. They need it immediately or they will go broke. This farm crisis is having a devastating effect on farm families. Does the member who just spoke have any idea as to how the government can target the money to the producers? I think it has to be sufficient and it has to be immediate so even if the cow is worth nothing, then at least the producer can survive in the short term.