Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his compliment to the trade committee, of which I am vice-chair.
I know well the amount of consultation that has taken place on the trans-Pacific partnership. Unfortunately, what is missing for Canadians, and certainly for Canadian farmers, is consultation on CETA. The Liberal government adopted a Conservative-negotiated deal, slapped a gold star on it, and said that it is the best deal it has ever seen, yet it is not bringing this deal to the Canadian people. Where is the same consultation with Canadians on CETA?
I am happy to hear that the parliamentary secretary is a dairy producer himself. I could not agree more that supply management is incredibly important. As a matter of fact, when the trade committee was visiting the eastern provinces, we heard that they will lose half their dairy farms under CETA and the TPP.
The government needs to stand up on behalf of farmers, and that starts with action. The words are done. They have been nice, but what farmers are looking for is action.