Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank my hon. colleague, the member for Crowfoot, for long being a leading advocate in Alberta for our farmers and our producers, both on the opposition benches and on the government benches, making sure that farmers are heard and pushing the same programs and the same priorities. He has delivered the same message in opposition and in government.
It is a real privilege to be part of a government in which for the first time in years the farm programs and the agriculture debate is actually taking place. A very important part of what the member talked about was the biodiesel and ethanol incentives that we have put forward so our industry can be competitive.
This is exactly what Conservatives focus on. They focus on bringing industry into it. They also focus on levelling the playing field so people can be competitive. That in turn is going to drive up the prices at the farm gate, as it already has, and that is the most important thing.
Subsidies are important and we have acknowledged that with over $1 billion in our first budget and an extra $1 billion in this budget, and in eliminating the CAIS program, which is very important, but no farmer I have ever talked to wants to be a subsidy chaser. He wants to have farm gate pricing. That is exactly what this initiative is bringing forward.