Mr. Chair, the member mentioned his concern in terms of moisture challenges in some parts of Canada. I would also add, as I know the hon. member next to me would, that this has been a difficulty in Nova Scotia this spring as well. We should not forget that area either.
I have concerns about some of the hon. member's comments. Clearly the Liberal Party did not suddenly arrive at a conclusion to support supply management at a policy conference three months ago, as the Conservative Party did. The reality is that the Liberal Party has been supporting supply management and it has been supporting it well by the fact that it exists and thrives today and has for some 35 years. I do not think that this should be forgotten.
The hon. member is wrong when he says that we have traded away tariff reductions. The WTO negotiations have not concluded. In fact, during the framework agreement that was signed last July and which we were part of negotiating, we insisted on putting in there that we allow some flexibility in terms of how we move forward. The issue is not tariffs per se and the hon. member should know that. It is the issue of over-quota tariffs that we are dealing with here, not general tariff reductions, and that distinction is important. It is important to understand that distinction as we move forward.
The hon. member talked about the mini-ministerial. It is interesting to note that he did not mention the mini-ministerial that took place in Paris for which his party refused to pair with a minister so that people could attend. I do not know why he did not mention that; I think it had something to do with an attempt to bring down a government or something like that.
Let me talk about the bottom line here. I say this to the member, the former minister, in all sincerity. I know that he, like all hon. members here, feels passionately about agriculture and its importance. This has to be an issue that in many respects transcends political partisanship. We are all going to be partisan from time to time.