Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague, especially his reference to Quebec beef. We have tracking programs in place and can track the animal from breeder right to abattoir, so it is incomprehensible that nothing has been done and no agreement has been put in place.
A base price is being asked for. We are told this needs to be Canada-wide. Yet the problem is in Quebec, and we need a base price for our cull cattle.
We are waiting for that agreement. It is urgent. I say again, as I have said before, farmers have committed suicide in Quebec, unable to make ends meet. Agriculture will not recover, because producers are no longer able to borrow money. Lending institutions no longer want to lend to them because they have such a backlog of inventory on their farms.
There is a crisis now, and we feel it is high time there was an agreement so that we can be certain of the 42¢ base price we have been demanding.