Mr. Speaker, that is another indication of the lack of understanding on the part of the Liberal opposition about what is happening on the farm.
The gopher issue is a huge issue in my riding. I know that my constituents do not appreciate being mocked, because they have to try to contain this problem. Some of them have fighting this for seven years. They fought for the first five years with no help at all from the member's government. We have at least stepped forward to try to find some solutions. We continue to work on it and on research projects in trying to find alternative ways of dealing with this issue.
I do not know if he understands the devastation that is caused on farms and ranches by these animals. They have completely wiped out quarter sections. People cannot even hay them. It is a situation in which they are short of feed and then they get hit by this as well. I wanted to make that point.
In terms of bilaterals, I do not think he should be mocking this because the Liberal government did not move on it. We think bilaterals are important. We also think the WTO is important. This is clearly a trading country. We need to be able to do that. Western Canada in particular depends on exports. We need to be able to move on those.
With regard to the money issue, I would like to point out some specifics.
On September 27, 2007, $1 million was given to the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance to help it implement an international marketing strategy.
We gave $2.6 million to Alberta's agri-processing industry to improve operations and help it remain competitive on the world stage.
We have given funding to the Canadian Beef Export Federation to help to boost beef exports. We have given money to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to support its project, which tries to enhance the marketplace.
I also need to point out that $4.5 billion was spent on programming in 2006.
Another $600 million is going to AgriInvest kickstart and $400 million is committed to cover farmers' increased input costs.
It is not like there is no money going out. There is a lot of money going out. This government is very proud of the programs it delivers.