Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about a budget that, unfortunately, misses the mark on every front.
It is a budget that fails to meet the needs of our regions, our businesses, our agriculture and Canadian families. It is a budget that, instead of building for the future, simply kicks the can down the road. It will burden our children with generations of debt by piling deficit upon deficit, debt upon debt and accounting falsehood upon accounting falsehood. It is a magical thing.
If there is one sector that deserves real and ambitious support, it is agriculture. Farmers are under unprecedented pressure: rising input costs, industrial carbon tax, inflation on equipment, labour shortages, tariffs, additional energy costs and rising transportation costs. However, there is not one word of serious discussion about that in the budget. There are no strong measures to support farmers. The government talks about food security, but it refuses to make a real investment in local production.
The current programs are too slow and too complicated. The bureaucracy involved makes them impossible for most family farms to use. As my brother-in-law know all too well, the paperwork never ends. While the cost of fertilizer keeps rising, machinery is 30% more expensive and profit margins keep shrinking every year.
The government tells us that everything is fine. Its head is stuck in the sand. While our farmers are struggling to survive, Ottawa talks about innovation, but without making any investment. Without real support, our lands, our independence and our communities are at risk.
Let us talk about rural areas. I come from a magnificent rural area. The labour shortage in my riding is real, ongoing, permanent and suffocating. I speak with farmers, processors, restaurant operators, manufacturers and business owners every day. They all tell me the same thing, “We need workers.” They cannot function without temporary foreign workers. We have full employment back home.
We, the Conservatives, know that the reality is different in Canada's big cities. We are able to acknowledge that. However, can the government acknowledge that things are different in the regions? Our position as Conservatives is very clear. We want the government to renew the work permits for all temporary foreign workers in regions where the unemployment rate is below 5.5%. On page 96 of the budget, the government recognizes the important role temporary foreign workers play in our regions and says that it will adjust according to those regions' needs. My question is simple: When will the government respond to these businesses' needs? They are waiting. It is urgent.
I have good news. Yesterday in committee, I asked the Minister of Industry about this. She told me that the Prime Minister was well aware of how important this matter is. My question is simple: Will the Prime Minister respond to our businesses before Christmas or not?
Rather than reducing delays, renewing permits more quickly and helping employers, the government is making the program more complicated, slowing things down and jeopardizing entire sectors of the rural economy. The Conservatives' position is clear. We have said it. We want to the government to renew permits in regions where the unemployment rate is less than 5.5%. We need workers.
I will ask the question one last time today. Will the Prime Minister deal with this matter before Christmas?
If businesses have workers, they can stay open, produce, be competitive, invest and, most importantly, create wealth.