Mr. Speaker, we are very familiar with the situation, but the Liberal government does not seem to be quite as familiar with it.
The situation on the prairies is desperate for many people who are involved in agriculture. The results of last fall's frozen crop will begin to affect the grain farmers and the people who grow specialty crops. Many of them do not even have the seed money this spring to get their crops into the ground.
The beef industry has been in trouble for the last year and a half. The government has failed in many different areas. Some of us said earlier that we need to put money immediately into processing plants to get them up and running to take care of some of the excess beef. The government has failed in that area. The government has failed in its programs. The CAIS program, as we are all aware, is seen as a universal failure by farmers.
It has been very frustrating. We could have had tremendous fiscal capacity in our province to build processing plants, to move agriculture forward and to provide programs. The crop insurance program is basically broke. The province does not have the money to make it viable. It is frustrating because we see our money going other places. It disappears into a black hole in Ottawa and the people of Saskatchewan are sick and tired of it.
One rancher from my riding actually wrote to me in the last couple of days. Ranchers are not only angry at the federal government but they are angry at the government across the border as well. They are getting desperate. One of the interesting things they are calling for is to put a tax on our energy to try to recover some money for the producers in Saskatchewan. That is an interesting tie that has not been made before. Farmers are desperate. They are getting angry. They want someone to do something that will save them and help them to continue to live the lives they are proud to live.
It is frustrating because the finance minister could very easily make this deal for Saskatchewan, but once again he has failed the people of Saskatchewan. He will not step forward and show the leadership that is needed from him. I really think it is time to make a change in that riding and to elect a Conservative member there so that we do get the representation here.