Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague for his very insightful intervention. He raised a number of very relevant points.
I too found it moving, and I would like him to tell us about the farmers he mentioned earlier, the ones who called his office to say how bad things were getting and to ask for help and support.
As an MP, how does he feel, and what message does he want to send to the government and the Treasury Board? We need to take advantage while they are here and tell them that it takes money. The $252 million they announced is barely 10% of what was asked, and the overall aid package that the Canadian government is offering to the agriculture sector is proportionately 12 times less than what the United States is providing. Tomorrow morning, in a context of global free trade, our farmers are going to be asked to compete with these people, despite not being on a fair footing.
How does my colleague feel about that, and can he comment on his desire to speak for farmers?