Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his passionate plea on behalf of farmers and pork producers. We have all been approached by pork producers lately and have heard their pleas for our assistance. I am very pleased that the hon. member has taken that seriously.
I also had the privilege of meeting people from the Canadian Pork Council at the industry committee last week and what they are asking for does not seem unreasonable. They are looking for repayable short term loans.
We have seen what happened in the manufacturing sector. Is it a matter of ideology that the government will not provide short term assistance for these people? I would also like my colleague to explain that once we have lost this industry, we cannot just get it back again. A farm, after going bankrupt or whatever, cannot set up and start over the next day. That is something we have not mentioned and it is very important for Canadians to hear.