Mr. Chair, I find this debate interesting but somewhat discouraging. I put myself in the place of the farmer who is struggling with a painful financial situation and who hears that we are travelling and that we will improve the situation in the future.
But what are we going to do now? There are people who are at the end of their rope, who may not get through the winter, and who cannot afford to lose money the way they are losing it now. The question is this: while we are, understandably, working to improve the medium- and long-term outcome, what can we put on the table right now? What will we give to the farmers so they can get through the winter, so they are able to wait until things get better, while we are working on improving the situation?
A farmer came up to me and said, “Listen, they are giving us $1 a day to feed our animals, but since we need more and more feed, and since we cannot sell the cattle but have to give them away, that dollar is not worth anything”. Rising costs wipe out that dollar and more.
And therefore, I ask this of the minister. In this emergency, on behalf of the farmers who are at the end of their rope, what can we do? Is the minister prepared to lobby to get some money put on the table in order to help the farmers, who are not in any way responsible for the current crisis?