Andy Mitchell

[Canadian Livestock Industry, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member, who provided the intervention, is back to talking about BSE as opposed to watching the hon. member from the Conservative Party make a totally inappropriate case. He forgets or ignores the fact that the U.S. administration stands four-square behind Canada. The U.S. President stands behind Canada. They absolutely stand behind us. This is not an issue of there being a dispute between the government of the United States and the Government of Canada. The hon. member fails to understand or to realize that. Rather than making comments about the substance of the issue, he resorts to talking about something that is totally unreal.

First, I appreciate the hon. member's assistance in the work we recently did together in Washington.

I have a very specific question. I know she has long advocated the position in terms of the cull animals. Does she believes the action taken by the Canadian Dairy Commission, which provided a $5 increase to dairy producers, a portion of which was specifically to deal with the lost value of cull animals, has had a positive effect on producers across Canada and in her particular province?

[Canadian Livestock Industry, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the member brought up the issue of slaughter capacity. As viewers out there may realize, and many of them are very knowledgeable about the industry, we already have seen a 20% increase in capacity in Canada from where we had been.

We were at about 65,000 a week. We are operating at about 83,000 a week and there are plans to bring that up to about 90,000. Of course we have indicated that we should be at about 105,000. The member mentioned some of the tools that have been used. I am quite prepared to refine those tools in a way that is important, but I want to ask him a couple of questions about it.

First, I think it is important not only that we hit the macro number we need to hit, but also that we remember the regional variances in terms of slaughter capacity. It is not just important to have total slaughter capacity; it has to be in the right parts of the country. Also, it is important that the right kinds of animals are being slaughtered to make sure that our slaughter capacity covers the variety. I would appreciate the member's view on this.

Here is what I think is most important. The member for Newmarket--Aurora made this point as well in a speech. That is, in doing this and in providing government assistance, we must make sure that there are a couple of underlying principles. We have to make sure that the proposals in front of us are supported by sound business plans and that they are going to be sustainable into the long term into a situation whether or not we have access to the U.S. border.

I am interested in knowing whether the member and his party share those underlying principles as part of the approach that we need to take.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we make progress in a number of areas: first, to continue increasing our slaughter capacity; second, to help develop new international markets; third, to manage our older animals and at the same time keep our transition programs such as our set-aside programs in place.

Of course as the hon. member points out, we need to do this while at the same time supporting the other agricultural sectors.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as in the answer to the previous member, no help at all. There is $1.9 billion in specific payments for BSE, the close to $1 billion that we have now had an opportunity to pay out in CAIS, and the fact that it will pay close to $1.4 billion in respect of the 2003 year.

We have been fully engaged with the Americans and it is not the American government that is opposed to opening the border. In fact, the American administration very much stands with Canada on this issue and the President has indicated that he will exercise his first veto to ensure the political process sees the border open.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is simply wrong. He may want to go to Prince Edward Island and ask those who were involved in the new plant in Prince Edward Island if there was federal money invested in that plant. He would get the answer that yes, it has seen federal money put into the plant.

He may want to ask those beef producers who received $106 million in emergency advances under the CAIS program whether or not they have been assisted. Or, he might want to ask those producers who today have received almost $1 billion in general CAIS payments whether they think there has been assistance provided. I think the answer from them would be yes.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadian taxpayers would be surprised to hear the hon. member characterize the $1.9 billion that this government has committed for BSE as a token. He may think it is a token. Canadian taxpayers do not think it is a token and beef producers do not think it is a token.

We have seen a 20% increase in slaughter capacity. There is another 10%, so a total of 30%, online that will see increased slaughter capacity.

I am pleased to announce today that an agreement has been reached with the FCC, so that it is now participating actively in providing loans to assist those who want to increase slaughter capacity.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can give all the mythical quotes that he wants to give. The reality is that rather than trying to score cheap political points this minister and this caucus were in Washington dealing with the Americans and dealing with this issue.

As the Minister of Finance has said, we have stood by our industry since May 2003. We have provided substantial investments in that industry. We have put in place some very creative and innovative programs to support that industry. We will continue to do that in the weeks and months yet to come.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Leader of the Opposition and members of the party opposite who seem to be finally waking up to the issue, last September the government put in place a strategy to reposition the industry so that it would be profitable with or without a border opening.

Our set aside programs have been put in place. Our market development programs have been put in place. We continue to see an increase in slaughter capacity in Canada.

The government understands what needs to be done and it is doing it.

[Agriculture, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, specifically on that issue, as all colleagues in the House know, the Canadian Dairy Commission, in setting the price of milk last December, included in the price increase a specific amount to deal with cull animals for the dairy industry, and that has been of significant help and importance to it.

In addition to that, I met as recently as last week with my counterpart in Quebec, the new minister, and we continue to have discussions to see what we can do to supplement that initiative.

[Agriculture, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned a number of things earlier. We will continue to vigorously work with the Americans to deal with the issue that is immediately before us, but as important, put in place the repositioning strategy to ensure that our producers, regardless of where they are in Canada, can restructure or reposition their industry in a way that they are profitable with or without a border opening.