Madam Speaker, there has been a large payout, but it is also the largest crisis we have had. It is fine to say we have done this, but it is raining now. It is not good enough to say we will wait and see. This is not an attitude the Canadian producers can take.
What should we do? Other countries, the United States and its heartland, folks in Manhattan or San Francisco, have a real concern, affection and anxiety to help their farmers. They are treated as a strategic industry, which they are, and they are given all kinds of help, and equally so in Europe.
I know the parliamentary secretary is fond of saying that we have given about as much aid as we can now into the WTO. As a matter of fact, Madam Speaker, in your home town tomorrow I am sending a paper, because I cannot go to give it, on what agricultural subsidies are doing in Canada today. As it turns out, and I only learned this recently, we can do a lot more subsidizing of our producers as long as we are not in the red light district under the WTO. However, under green and amber we can do things to help our producers. I am glad to see my knowledgeable friend is nodding his head.