Madam Speaker, I want to ask this government's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to pay just a little attention to the people who work every day to feed Canadians.
Farmers are the lifeblood of many of our rural communities. They have given a lot and we need to respect them. The Liberal government has made some fine promises to buy their silence and get them to agree to the concessions made during the most recent trade agreement negotiations. Now, it is time to provide the timeline for the promised payments to all eligible farmers and agriculture processors. That is the least this government can do to recognize the importance of the men and women who work in this critical sector of our economy.
Supply management must be protected, and our leader has committed to never use supply management as a bargaining chip in future negotiations. Enough is enough. Why put these business owners through that kind of stress? When someone is just trying to give the impression that they respect a group, they act like the Minister of Agriculture is acting. They are evasive and change the rules of the game.
I am asking the Minister of Agriculture to stop playing cat and mouse and to show respect for our farmers by keeping her word.