Mr. Speaker, we are indebted to the member for Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière for the speech he gave during this emergency debate on the crisis in the pork and beef industries. There will probably be an election campaign soon. I intend to print the member for Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière's speech and pass it around to everyone in the agricultural sector.
For minutes that seemed to stretch into hours, he said over and over that everything is fine, everything has been fixed, all of which was much the same as what we heard from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. According to the member, the Conservative government has gone to great lengths to avert the crisis. So why are we having this debate tonight? That is my question for the member. Why are we having this debate? I can help him answer that question.
During committee meetings, a unanimous report was drafted. Members of his party were among those who signed the unanimous report with its six specific recommendations. Beef and pork producers told us that they were experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Perhaps the member is not aware that the dollar has gone up. That is one of the factors contributing to the hard times these producers are going through. The people who met with us in committee proposed solutions. I would like the member to talk about that during his remaining time. During his 10-minute speech, nothing he said acknowledged these problems at all.