Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the distinguished member for Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington.
Earlier this evening I listened with interest to the remarks of the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. His 25 years of experience as a farmer show that he truly understands the extent of the problem some Canadian farmers are currently experiencing. Like Canadian farmers, I am very pleased and reassured to see the minister is on top of the situation and that he is acting on it. He is doing everything in his power, everything he can, to tackle this issue. He has kept everyone in the House well informed of the situation. He has had ongoing discussions with industry, the financial community, the provinces, his cabinet colleagues and the members of the House to encourage all of us to work with him in putting forward concrete solutions to this very real problem.
We all agree that the agriculture and agri-food sector is crucial to the Canadian economy. It is one of Canada's top five industries and it is Canada's third largest employer. None of us can afford to let it go down the drain. We all agree that what Canadian farmers need right now is some type of assistance to help them deal with the situation on a short term basis. They need a program to keep their businesses going in a very severe unprecedented downturn.
That is where the whole discussion about a combination of programs comes into place. The minister and cabinet are working to develop the right mix, the right combination of programs, including the use of the present system of safety nets and the creation of a national disaster program.
We all agree our plan of action must not only deal with the short term, which this government is doing under the direction of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, but we must also focus on longer term effective solutions. As markets around the world gain strength, and we know they will, Canadian farmers must be in a position to capitalize on that economic renewal.
Our record performance of the last four or five years will come back. It will come back because we have a highly competitive industry and even in the face of the current market downturns we are doing what we need to do to get ready for the future. The perfect example of that is the ongoing consultation with the Canadian industry to put together a strong negotiating position for the upcoming round of negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
As chairman of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, I can say that organizations within the industry from one end of the country to the other appreciate that we have invited them to give us their input on the kind of negotiating position we should strike for the beginning of the WTO negotiations a little more than a year from now.
These negotiations represent an important opportunity for Canada to maintain and extend its competitive advantage. The talks represent a unique chance to continue what we started over four years ago when we signed on to the WTO agreement at the end of the Uruguay round. That round brought some semblance of order, some rules to world trade in food and agricultural products.
However, the current farm income troubles have a lot to do with poor world market conditions, conditions that have been worsened by the protectionist mood in some parts of the U.S. and by the EU's continued use of subsidies.
Canadian farmers are justifiably worried about what might be around the corner. I want to reassure them that this government is doing everything in its power to dissuade the EU and the United States from falling into another trade subsidy war. We are absolutely committed to continue working on this front.
Members heard the minister say he will continue to talk on a bilateral basis with leaders of the United States and Europe. We also intend to fully use the next WTO round to put an end to the big powers' trade distorting tactics.
Subsidies especially hurt smaller and medium size countries like Canada. They are a detriment to a strong and healthy global agricultural economy. Canada will be pushing hard in these negotiations for a multilateral commitment to phase out agricultural export subsidies once and for all. Such subsidies were banned for industrial products in the mid-1950s.
Surely after half a century it is time to rid the agricultural sector of this most aggressive and unfair form of government support. Producers in one country should not have to compete against the treasury of another.
Whether wheat growers in Saskatchewan, Argentina or in the United States, farmers are a vital and valued part of society. No matter who we are or where we are from, we all have the same goals of strong agricultural economies, prosperous rural communities and a decent standard of living for those who work the land.
Over the next year the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will continue to consult with industry groups to craft a solid, unified negotiating position that takes into account the full spectrum of interest within our diverse agriculture and agri-food sector.
This round of talks is one further essential tool in our long term strategy for the sector. As members know, these sorts of negotiations take time. They are very much our long term approach.
This government has heard the industry's call for a disaster program to deal with the immediate very serious income shortfalls and we intend to take short term action as well as action over the longer term.
I conclude on one extremely important point the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has made over and over again since the farm income ordeal began.
Our long term and short term strategies must first and foremost be complementary. One cannot hurt the other. One cannot take precedence over the other. Our solution to this extraordinary situation must be what we call WTO green.
Canada cannot afford to open the door to any further countervailing actions from its competitors. That is why the government, including the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister for International Trade, is working very hard to ensure that whatever we do will be ultimately helpful and will not hurt our producers or taxpayers by generating retaliatory trade actions.
I remind members the hog industry is one that has lost a lot of money to countervailing actions in the past and none of us wants to see that again.
That is why the government is taking the necessary time to design the very best possible program, a program that meets the needs of farmers and all Canadians and programs that are WTO green so that the money ends up in the pockets of farmers.
