Debates of May 14th, 2009

Agriculture and Agri-food--Main Estimates, 2009-10

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Madam Chair, I will answer the question for the minister. The debt load is $55 billion and it has increased $4.1 billion since the government came to power, four times the amount of debt as the U.S. farmers.

What about increasing farmers' financial well-being. On December 21, 2005, the Prime Minister promised a cost of production for farmers. He committed $100 million per year.

This is an easy question. How much money has been spent under the cost of production program by the government?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, the big point to remember here is that the debt to asset ratio in Canada is up less than 1%. Three-quarters of 1% is what debt to asset ratio is up.

Land values for agriculture across this country are up on average some 6%. This is good news. The member opposite wants to take the downside of what is happening. He talks about the cost of production program but he knows full well that program will not and cannot trigger. A good example, of course, is the situation in Ontario where they have RMP. They have been able to push out less than $2 million in the same timeframe.

What we have done is reinvigorate the new suite of programs to include the cost of production program.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Madam Chair, the fact is that the Prime Minister broke his promise. What was put out was zero and the program was cancelled. Another broken promise. More debt for farmers and less income for producers.

Under the government's watch, the hog industry today is fighting for its very survival. The minister said that he would be there for them but all he has managed to do with his program is increase, as is usual, more debt.

The Canada Pork Council made a request to him this week for an immediate payment of $1 billion. It is critical that these moneys be provided for the survival of the hog industry. Is the minister willing to commit tonight to that $1 billion or will it be another broken commitment?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, it is hard to break a commitment that has not been made yet. I am not sure where the member for Malpeque is coming from.

The hog sector has been served very well by this government. Of course it is very cyclical in nature. We did come forward with a cull sow program. It has worked very well. We have been able to expedite those moneys out. Of course we got new markets open for pork.

We are heading south again this coming week to Colombia and we are taking along Canadian Pork International to take advantage of a growing marketplace down there. We have expedited moneys under the targeted advance, under our new programs. We are able to do that, unlike the old APF that his government brought forward. We also put out some $80 million to help the industry address the cyclical nature of disease within hogs.

I think the pork industry has been very well served. We will continue to work with the industry toward brighter days.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I would just urge the member for Guelph that we did talk about using flexibility. I would just remind all members that we will respect the rules. I would like to ask the members to use a certain flexibility.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Madam Chair, with respect to the Prime Minister's attempt to cover up a ministerial responsibility during the listeriosis crisis, on April 30, 225 days after the “let's pretend” investigation started, the minister admitted that he had not been interviewed. It is now 14 days later and, as key minister responsible for food safety, has he been interviewed yet?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, I am not sure why the member opposite wants to predetermine the outcome of an independent investigation. Of course, everyone agrees that she has the tools and the expertise to get the job done.

We do not do these types of things in public. That is what the report will be all about and it will be public.

Certainly I have had discussions with Ms. Weatherill, and I intend to have more if she so determines.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Chair, is supply management on the table for the Canada-EU free trade agreement negotiations, yes or no?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, absolutely not.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Chair, will the minister commit absolutely to defending supply management in the FTA negotiations with the EU?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, I am proud of our stance, and our actions speak a lot longer and harder than the words from over there. We put in place article XXVIII. We put in place cheese compositional standards. We put in place special safeguards, something that they always talked about but never got the job done for supply management. We continue to do that and we are proud to.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Chair, the Atlantic Food and Horticultural Research Station in Kentville, Nova Scotia is vital to Atlantic Canada's food and horticultural industry. The Conservative government is quietly gutting the centre's capacity through attrition and cutting operational funds. The centre's employees, in fact, as they leave or retire, are not being replaced.

Modern agriculture needs modern science. Will the minister commit to the long-term viability of the centre and to restore all of its operational funding so that the centre can continue to meet the important needs of Atlantic Canada's horticultural community?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, I am not sure where the member opposite is getting his information. There have been no cuts to these centres; in fact, we are rejuvenating them. We are putting a lot more money back into science and technology, back through the centres that the Liberals ignored for almost 13 years. Certainly they are in a terrible state of disrepair. That is why I made announcements in P.E.I., and across the country there were announcements made, about rebuilding the capacity of these great icons of agriculture.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Chair, Canadians understand the need to preserve prime agricultural land, but in Canada, the cost of preserving these lands is being assumed only by our farmers, particularly when farmers have to forgo profits by not selling their land to developers.

What is the role for the federal government to protect agricultural lands, possibly through land banking?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, the member opposite should know that we have a little thing in this country. It is Confederation. The provinces are certainly the member of record for those types of initiatives. If the member has something he would like Nova Scotia to put forward, I would say he should take it up with whatever government wins that election.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Chair, what is pretty obvious is that Canadians are going to need a new federal government to get anything done to strengthen Canadian agriculture.

In terms of country of origin labelling, the U.S. has implemented new rules that are hurting Canadian livestock farmers. Canadian beef and hog farmers are getting lower and lower prices. They cannot compete with these unfair trade rules.

Why has the government continually failed to defend our farmers and stand up to the U.S. government in order to secure changes to protect Canadian farmers against the pernicious effects of country of origin labelling?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, we have done just exactly that with a beginning challenge, which got us the rule we wanted. We are into a second challenge now on this voluntary aspect, and I am sure if the Liberals had won a fifth term, they would have been there too.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Madam Chair, in 2007, the Prime Minister announced AgriInvest, a new savings program to help farmers manage business risks. The Prime Minister touted this initiative at the time as “programming that is more predictable, bankable and better enables farmers to better respond to rising costs”. However, two years later, it has still not been implemented. Why is this another broken promise?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, it is no such thing. We are working with the banks to put those depository situations in place. We will have that done sometime over the summer. In the meantime, we have taken care of producers by backstopping them and making sure they did not have to commit, but we have certainly flowed those funds for them, some $600 million to date.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Madam Chair, I did not actually get an answer to the question. This is a program that was announced two years ago and has not been implemented, another broken promise.

I would also like to ask about another broken promise. In the current budget, budget 2009, the government promised a $50 million so-called investment for additional livestock slaughter capacity. The minister convinced the farmers that this would be grant money to build capacity, but only two months later it shifted from a contribution to a loan. I will clarify that a loan does not qualify as an investment. This is another broken promise. Can the minister explain why?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, the member opposite probably forgot that $600 million has flowed out through AgriInvest. Of course, we continue to do that job and look forward to flowing more.

As to the slaughter capacity, that was always a loan. It was always explained that way. But it is a great situation in that the repayment terms are more than generous. Nothing is repaid until borrowers are into a sustainable profit margin situation. That is a tremendous investment. We have had almost 100 applications already. So I would think that processors and producers out there get it, even though the Liberals do not.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Madam Chair, Canadian farmers are in debt four times as much as American farmers. The idea of advertising an investment as a grant and now saying that the repayment terms are generous is a little hard to swallow for the farmers in this country who are up to their eyeballs in debt.

I will ask the minister again, why was it advertised as an investment on the basis of it being a grant? Regardless of the repayment terms now, how can he justify that it is now a loan?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, it always was. Of course, people like to speculate, but we were never shy about saying this is money that will be used to stimulate, to leverage and make things happen.

The great news in this country is that producers are in good shape. As I said, the debt-to-asset ratio has only risen by three-quarters of 1%. Farm Credit assures me that less than one-third of 1% of its total portfolio is considered at risk. That is good news. I wish Liberals would get on board with it.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

My colleague asked a question earlier, Madam Chair, about the hog producers, and the response from the minister was that the hog producers in this country are very well served by the government.

I would point out that the minister made a lovely show of serving pork at the barbecue in support of the producers a little while ago, but I would ask the minister to look me in the eye right now and tell me which one of those many producers actually told the minister that the industry is being well served by the current government.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Chair, I hear that constantly. There is a large pork sector in my riding, and of course, Jurgen Preugschas, the president of the hog sector, is a good friend of mine. We have worked together over the years.

I would certainly be happy to share those stories with the member opposite, but of course, I am going to be timed out so I cannot.