Mr. Chair, this concerns the whole government, including the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Sometimes we need to bring agricultural workers into the country. The whole government is seized with this issue.
What do we do for this transitional period when the average farmer is pushing 60? We are in danger of losing a generation. Farming is not something that can just be picked up. A person has to grow up around it to understand it well.
Young people need to know whether the government is in their corner. Is the government listening? Are we going to bat for them? We need to assure them of that by our actions and our deeds. We need to assure them of that by what we say and by the concrete measures we take as we go forward.
We have to look at government programming, not just at how it affects farming but how it affects rural communities. A rural strategy is also necessary for the country. That is why we campaigned on things like the importance of a university education and also of training people in apprenticeship work. This would give them hope that the work they were doing would be useful on the farm. We are going to help them get that training. We are going to help them get ahead.
When we talk about child care solutions, we do not just talk about solutions that work in downtown Toronto. We talk about solutions that will work for young farmers who are just starting out with their young families and how they can get a little help.
We have talked about how we are going to deliver health care guarantees. If a farmer moving out to the country asks if he will lose his health care, we can say we will guarantee him health care. We are tired of wasting money on things like the gun registry system. We are going to take that money and put it into useful things, and we are not going to tie things up in red tape. We are going to let farmers get ahead.
We are going to lower the GST so farmers can keep more money. We are going to tell farmers that profit is not a dirty word. We are going to ensure that not only will the farmer get to make money but he will get to keep his money.
Young farmers are looking for deals and we on this side of the House have an obligation to tell them what the deal is. We are going to ensure that they are profitable and that they get to keep their money. We on this side of the House are going to ensure sure that they, their families, their safety, security and position in the world is respected. Farmers can be confident that a handshake deal with this government is going to be kept.