Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from the Bloc for his comments this afternoon. I also had the pleasure of working with him at the agriculture committee and miss him at the agriculture committee as well.
I realize how important supply management is to my hon. colleague, to his province, and to all of Canada. Our agricultural sector has had great difficulty in making consumers understand how important farmers are to its well-being, whether it is health or the environment.
We see huge subsidies given to European farmers by the EU. Does the hon. member feel that perhaps the EU farmers have earned the respect of consumers because they have experienced hunger, and therefore they do not want that to happen again? It is a history lesson that they have not forgotten and I hope our Canadian consumers learn from the European experience.
Does my hon. colleague feel that this is a reason why the EU has such high subsidies for their farmers?