Madam Chair, it is a pleasure to speak this evening on this very important matter of supply management.
Those members who have had the opportunity to visit my beautiful riding of Simcoe--Grey know that a major source of employment is the agricultural industry. Agriculture is the key economic sector of our country and farming provides benefits to the communities that surround it. Rural Canada contributes 15% of Canada's GDP, which benefits all Canadians.
Within my riding of Simcoe--Grey, agricultural and agrifood businesses generate over $150 million. Twenty-seven per cent of goods-producing jobs are actually agrifood jobs. The result is safe, secure and affordable food that is produced close to home.
However, it is important that producers and governments work together to make agriculture sustainable. Our farmers are hard-working and independent, but cooperation is becoming increasingly important to make our producers competitive in global markets.
A Conservative government will support supply management and its goal to deliver a high quality product to consumers for a fair price with a reasonable return to the producer. This is common sense. However, it was only because of political pressures that the Liberal government even considered supporting supply management. This is not enough.
Canadian farmers are suffering because of poor ministerial representation by the government at World Trade Organization negotiations. In 2003, for example, the Liberals attempted to restart WTO negotiations by offering to reduce tariff levels on egg, poultry and dairy imports by 5%. In effect, what they are doing is playing the interests of different Canadian farmers against each other to achieve their objectives. This is wrong.
Then, in the 2004 WTO negotiations, this government signed an agreement that threatened supply management in the egg, dairy and poultry sectors. The 2004 agreement commits Canada to reducing tariffs in proportion to reductions made by other countries. This is shameful.
This government has failed to achieve real protection for Canada's supply management sectors. Instead, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of International Trade have bargained away tariffs in these sectors piece by piece. Because the government does not stand up for Canadian farmers, it has not been honest with them about the ramifications of these negotiations.
The Conservative Party believes that government must support farmer-led supply management systems and the government must negotiate beneficial trade agreements.
When Canadian agriculture faces unfair trade challenges, Ottawa must go to bat for producers on the world stage with high level delegations. We need a commitment from the government that this supply managed sector will have input into the creation of a trade negotiation mandate, but we have been waiting 12 years for this. It has been 12 years and all we have seen from the government is mismanagement and neglect.
Let us not think for a minute that Canadians farmers are not aware of the lack of support from the government. During the past year I have travelled extensively throughout my riding. I have spoken to hundreds of farmers at community events, on the farm, on the sidewalk, at their doorsteps and at Terry Dowdell's coffee shop at Baxter corners.
Their message to me was clear: they no longer respect politicians. They say their trust has been continuously violated over the past 12 years and they have had enough. They have heard Liberal promises, put their faith in the government over and over again and waited for action, only to see the Liberals continue to break promises, ignore Canadians and further demean elected office in the eyes of the Canadian taxpayer. Promises made, promises broken.
Government, minority or otherwise, brings not only the privilege of the fancy seats on the other side of this chamber but also the responsibility of governing on behalf of Canadians. However, this government has become so arrogant that it no longer represents the needs of Canadians.
It is not just the farmers who are fed up with this Liberal government. The conflicting Liberal messages are a factor contributing to Canada's isolation at WTO negotiations. Major countries such as the U.S.A., the European Union, Australia, Brazil and India are playing an increasingly important role in WTO negotiations, whereas Canada is being sidelined.
Much like Canada, the European Union and the U.S.A. are net agricultural exporters. They went to the table last July with strong, developed plans to achieve their goals and domestic interests. Canada has no plan. Canada has not defended its agricultural producers and has become a spectator rather than a participant in influencing the agriculture agreement.
The Liberals will tell us that they sought consensus of the industry through stakeholder consultations, convincing producers that they had sufficient input to proceed with trade negotiations. However, the Liberals have violated their trust. The government has abdicated its responsibility to live up to its own negotiating mandate.
Canadian farmers want and need a government that will listen to them, a government that will work to support and protect the agriculture industry, a government for Canadians.
Keith Currie, president of the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture and also a local farmer in my riding, was very clear with respect to supply management. He said that supply management works and it would be a shame if the government were to let it fall between the cracks.
He said that supply management provides a good return on investment for farmers and allows them to contribute their profits back into the economy, not only for new equipment but to purchase items such as furniture for their homes and schooling for their children. Furthermore, farmers pay taxes on their profits. It is therefore a win-win for all parties involved, he said. I could not agree more.
Mr. Currie went on to say that the federal government needs a long term plan for agriculture and that Canadians must know that a country with a stable food supply will remain economically stable. We cannot lose that.
Mr. Bill Mitchell, assistant director of communications and planning for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, made it very clear that the dairy industry wants the Canadian government to take a strong stance in the upcoming trade negotiations. He also indicated that the dairy industry has had substantial losses due to subsidized imports that are coming in through trade loopholes and dairy farmers want the government to act now and stop the damage.
I will explain the loophole in plain language with the following example. If we take butter oil and sugar and mix them together, they are then tariff free. This is because the two items together create a new mixture not picked up in trade negotiations. Since the new mixture was not part of the trade negotiations, it is tariff free.
Mr. Mitchell said that Canada should be protecting its agriculture industries by stopping loopholes that create losses for our farmers. He said that one way to do this is to improve product standards and labelling regulations.
Canadian farmers involved in the supply managed industries are very committed, hard-working individuals who watch intently what we do here on Parliament Hill. They watch because they want the government to finally step up to the plate and put Canada first with respect to WTO negotiations.
I am proud that I can stand in front of them and in this House and say that I support supply management, my party supports supply management and my leader supports supply management. I am proud to stand up for Canadian farmers. Our party is proud to stand up for Canadian farmers.
Just this past summer, the leader of our strong and united Conservative Party, the leader of the official opposition, the member for Calgary Southwest, expressed his strong support for supply management by signing a declaration.
Our party is on record as supporting supply management and also supports the three pillars of supply management as expressed in the declaration:
--the Canadian supply management system...is based on planning production to match demand, on producer pricing that reflects production costs, as well as on control of imports...
The Conservative Party will ensure that Canada's agricultural producers are first on the list when it comes to trade negotiations. The Conservative Party of Canada will stand up for Canadian farmers.