Lost his last election, in 2006, with 40% of the vote.
Agriculture September 27th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member pointed out that under the leadership of this government, of this party, of this Prime Minister, the border was reopened.
Also, as they were trying to rebook their flights to Montana, the federal minister along with the 10 provincial ministers were meeting in Alberta and did in fact develop a contingency plan, which we hope will not be necessary.
Agriculture September 27th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is simply wrong in her facts. The issue was resolved in the appeals court. The Government of Canada had its amicus brief in the appeals court. The Conservative Party did not.
The Government of Canada, this party, was there defending Canadian producers; that party was not.
Agriculture June 27th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, Canada's position is not in terms of free trade. It is in terms of protecting Canadian consumers. Before we provide a licence to any product for distribution in this country, we make absolutely certain that we undertake the necessary investigations to ensure it is safe for Canadian consumers. That is what we do in terms of our licensing process. That is what we have done in the past and that is what we will continue to do in the future.
Agriculture June 27th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, here in Canada we have a very clear way in which we handle GM products. It is very intense. We deal with a scrutiny in terms of any product that would come to market. Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of Canadian consumers. That is what we do.
Agriculture June 23rd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, we will be conducting a national review, one which will ensure that we maintain our national and regional commitments to science, one which will make sure that we talk to and engage stakeholders. In the interim, we will be putting a moratorium on the closures that were announced in Kapuskasing, Nappan, St. John's and Winnipeg.
I would like to thank the member for Avalon, the member for Kings--Hants, and the member for Cumberland--Colchester for their input on this matter.
Agriculture June 21st, 2005
Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising to have the NDP characterize $2 billion as band-aids. That is in line with that party's philosophy.
Quite frankly, what we have done in terms of helping our cattle producers is to put in place a set aside program which has helped to stabilize the price. This has allowed them to get a much greater return from the marketplace than they otherwise would have.
The long term solution is to bring rationality back into the marketplace by balancing supply and demand. That is why it is important to increase our slaughter capacity. That is why it has increased by 30% over the last few months.
Agriculture June 21st, 2005
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of measures that need to take place.
First of all, we need to increase our capacity in this country for processing meat and that has increased by more than 30% Second, we need to expand our marketplace simply beyond the United States. I am happy to say that we have regained access or established new access in 14 new marketplaces over the last year.
At the same time, we have provided either direct or indirect support to those in the cattle and beef industry and other ruminant industries, of over $2 billion. We will continue to support those industries.
Agriculture June 20th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear about the approach we are taking in science. We want to ensure that we put the maximum amount actually on the science and the least amount on overhead. Over the next while we will engage in a very public, open and transparent process by which we can determine how we can take maximum advantage of the investments we are making in science from this government.
Agriculture June 20th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, there is no plan to close the Kentville station. As minister, I receive recommendations all the time from various sources on actions that I may want to take. We decided not to take that action.
Agriculture June 20th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I will repeat again that we have standing at the appeals court and the issue at hand is to have the temporary injunction quashed. We have been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have that take place.
We have also engaged with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on an ongoing basis to bring into force its particular rule that would see the re-establishment of trade in live animals between our two countries. We have been committed to doing that for the last two years. We have seen more than $2 billion invested to support our industry and we will continue to do that in the weeks ahead.