Madam Speaker, I think of the chicken industry in Manitoba. In fact, if we take a look at the chicken industry over the last decade, we will see there are close to 200 new chicken producers. People would not think this was true if they listened to Conservatives. They would think they would be seeing a shrinking of the pork industry, a shrinking of the chicken-processing industry, which is just not true. I have visited not only those industries but also our cattle industry and agriculture communities.
I was flying into Winnipeg from B.C. recently. When people fly in and get under the clouds, they see golden fields with multiple colours, where all forms of crops are coming up. There is a lot to be said about the beauty of the Prairies when one sees the potential harvest there, and how that is dealing with food security not only here in Canada but abroad.
I do not need to be told to appreciate farmers and the fine work they do. I do that naturally and I have done it for many years, both as a parliamentarian and as a young person jumping on a John Deere tractor as it was cultivating. This is something I believe in and I know the government believes in it too.
Earlier this year, we were in the Philippines. The Minister of Agriculture was making an announcement for the opening of an agri-food trade office where we are going to have 30-plus other countries looking for trade. We will be using the Manila office as a place to enhance Canadian trade for agri-food products. We will all benefit by that, in particular our farmers. With the potential markets in that area of the world, there is phenomenal potential for growth. As a government, we are looking to secure that growth for our country, at the same time as feeding the world.
Many initiatives taken by the government deal with the issue the report talks about. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have used this as a way to cause division and to filibuster government legislation. It is not about the issue for them, as I said at the beginning. It is all about how they can cause a disturbance in the chamber, and we saw some of that by the reaction.
When Liberals met as a caucus, we talked about many different issues and concerns in Canada. There are reasons for us to be very optimistic, whether it is the 2% inflation, the downward direction of interest rates or the record foreign investment, especially in comparison with other countries.
Last year, on a per capita basis, we were number one in the G7 in terms of foreign investment coming into Canada; in the world, we were number three. That is all good news. It shows we are moving forward in the right direction, but we do need to continue to work at improving conditions for all Canadians. That is the type of thing we discussed when we went to caucus. We talked about agriculture.
We can contrast that to the leader of the Conservative Party's opening comments at its convention. The headline was, “Carbon pricing to cause economic ‘nuclear winter,’ [the leader of the Conservative Party] tells his MPs”. Let me tell members what he had to say.
In his speech to his caucus, he said that the Liberal government's plan to increase the price would cause a “nuclear winter” for the economy. “There would be a mass hunger and malnutrition with a tax this high...Our seniors would have to turn the heat down to 14 or 13 C just to make it through the winter,” the leader added. “Inflation would run rampant and people would not be able to leave their homes or drive anywhere.”
This is the type of whatever we want to call it. That is how he addressed his caucus. I can tell the House that we have seen that shift to the far right. A lot of the negative things that Canadians do not like about politics coming up from the United States are being ushered in through the Conservative leader's office.
I received an email. I do not know how I got it, but it is addressed to me. I will leave out what I know I have to leave out, the names. It says, “He's a liar. He's a fake, a phony, a fraud. He told Canadians he was tearing up his costly coalition with [blank], but he is continuing to prop up the Liberal government. Worst of all, he sold out Canadians to get his $2.3-million pension. Canadians can't trust anything he says. It's time for a carbon tax election, full stop. Chip in today to support [I cannot say the name] and the common-sense”, I call it nonsense, “Conservatives as we take on a [I cannot say costly] coalition and win the carbon tax election. [I cannot say the name] has made everything worse. Taxes up. Costs up.” We know the slogan, Madam Speaker. “[Blank] will keep lying to Canadians to keep his pension, but they won't win because we have a secret weapon.” It says me; I am a secret weapon. “We're counting on a strong and patriotic Canadian”—