I do not know when I am going to get any sleep because I have so many farmers and farm interested folks in this caucus that they keep me pretty busy, Mr. Chair, I must admit.
During a campaign it is easy to promise things. It is easy to roll out numbers and even promise the moon during election campaigns. What we said and what we are going to do, and we are not just talking here, is we will add $2.5 billion over the next five years to the basic agricultural support system. With that money we are going to replace CAIS with separate income stabilization and disaster relief so that the people in Porcupine Plain whom I actually met with know that they will have some help when they really need it.
What I hear farmers saying again and again is, “It is not just about the money. You need to paint us a road map forward. You need to show us where we are going, tell us how we can fit in, make sure that we get part of the value added opportunities that are there so that farmers are not just the low cost producers all the time. Show us how we can join in and then let the farmers get to work”.
If they can see it, if they can predict it, if they can bank on it, if they know it is coming and they know the government is in their corner, the farmers are going to get to work. They are going to be profitable and we are going to make sure that they are.