Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to represent the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, Quebec's agrifood capital.
Farmers do not just want to be called upon to collaborate. They really need to be reassured. Our region is home to several hundred farm businesses and several thousand food processing jobs. It is a land use issue.
For us, jeopardizing these farms means jeopardizing the villages in my riding. I hear about it every week. Last Saturday evening, I was sitting across from a dairy producer from Saint-Dominique at the farm women gala and she was telling me how sad she was to see one dairy farm after another shutting down.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting next to Marie-Ange Lapointe, who is very proud to be the fifth generation on her family's dairy farm in Upton. She was saying how sad she was to see all of the dairy farms that have been around for such a long time shutting down, one after the other.
In the centre city of our riding, there are hardly any dairy farms left, even though there used to be several on every country road. That is what worries me. Agriculture must not be treated like any other business.