I have a passion about this issue, Madam Chair, and I know that the farmers who are here and the farmers in my own constituency want me to speak for them, through you, Madam Chair, to this government and tell them to stand up and be counted on this issue. Do not drop the ball, because there is too much at stake.
We know when the Liberals were looking for power on the hustings they made all kinds of promises on all kinds of fronts. In their Speech from the Throne there was a lot of stuff that all of a sudden was missing, but particularly when they came down with the budget there was nothing there.
I hear the Conservatives yapping off here to my right. When the first budget came down there was not a thing in it for agriculture. What did we hear from the farmers in the Conservative caucus? What did we hear from the Conservative caucus? They said they supported the budget. When it came to a vote on the budget, where were they? They were sitting on their hands. Then when the budget was voted on, they voted for it in principle.
Talk about talking out of both sides of one's mouth. There is no room here for the high ground, either with the government or with the Conservatives.
What the farmers are looking for tonight is someone to stand up and say, “We will be with you; we will be there fighting for you. We will put it all out there on the floor. We will take the risk. We will invoke article XXVIII.” We know and the farmers know other countries have done so. Other countries have invoked article XXVIII, and they did not suffer any penalty from the WTO or other countries. No. They were seen to be speaking from a position of strength.
That is what the farmers want. They want their government to stand with them and speak from a position of strength in front of these countries that want to take away our share of the market, and to act in a manner that bespeaks the history and the track record of the country, as we have gone to war year after year over in Europe with those same countries, to protect their interests and their freedom. They want their government to go to war with them to protect their industry, their interest in their industry, their future, and what they have given their lifeblood to build up, their farms for their families, and that is not happening. That is really sad, because the farmers had bigger expectations from the government in that.
The European Union used article XXVIII to stem the imports of wheat and barley. The United States invoked article XXVIII against Canadian wheat. Russia and Vietnam have stood up for their domestic markets. The U.S. is now moving against modified milk products, and the list goes on and on. Other countries stood shoulder to shoulder with our farmers to protect their interests against outside countries that want to come in and take a whole lot of our market.
This is I think the fifth time I have stood in the House to speak in a debate on agriculture in the last nine months. That is because of the importance of farming to my constituency.
I sat down with one of my farmers the other day, and he shared with me that the impact of this ruling by the WTO going through is very significant for him and for his neighbours. I think he was talking about an impact of some $35,000 of equity, a significant reduction in his market share.
An economic impact study was done on the importance of farming in the Algoma-Manitoulin region. In April 2004, agri-related sales were $86.2 million, with total jobs of 2,827. That is like another Algoma Steel.
If Algoma Steel was threatened in Sault Ste. Marie, we would all be up in arms. The provincial government would be up in arms, the federal government would be up in arms, and the city would be up in arms. We would be going to war to protect Algoma Steel.
But for our farmers, there are 2,827 jobs, which is similar to Algoma Steel, and the government is up against it. The WTO makes a ruling. The government could invoke article XXVIII, and what does it do? Nothing. It is silent on the issue. It is silent on an industry that has as much impact on my area as the closing of Algoma Steel would have if the government does not do something.
I tell the House the farmers are being hammered by BSE and the result of that, the closing of the border, and now they are being hammered by this WTO ruling. They are very disappointed that the government is not doing anything.
On the one hand I suppose we can be grateful for this take note debate and the prominence given to agriculture and our farmers and to their important issues such as supply management. On the other hand it begs the question of why there are so many debates and why so little action.
If we are to have yet another take note debate on agriculture, the question is, is anyone taking note? Is anyone noticing the real live impact on the farmers at home in their ridings of actions such as this and the inaction of the government?