Howard Hilstrom

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that was a fine speech and it brings into play the situation we see in eastern Ontario.

The federal government is responsible for trade issues. We have heard different comments here to the effect that we should get tough with the Americans.

I would like the member to comment on this. The position I see is that Canada, this Liberal government, when it came to BSE in other countries such as Denmark, where it had one case, banned all its beef in essence forever. We banned beef from Brazil, even though it did not have an official case. We have never opened our border to anybody for any meat.

When we had our first case, the United States initially banned our beef. However, being the good neighbours and friends that they are, they partially opened up the border so we could get some exports moving. That has really saved the beef industry in Canada, the total herd. We still want them to open the border fully.

Could the member comment about the importance of trade to us and the importance of good relations with our neighbours, given the fact they are our biggest customers?

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, our problem is not explaining to the world how safe our beef is and the regulations that we have put in place to ensure it is safe. Our problem is having the salesmen who can go to that other country and just like the salesmen of any product, clinch the deal. That is where our agriculture minister and our Prime Minister have failed so miserably. They have not been able to clinch the deal with Japan, Korea, China and the United States. That is my main criticism of the Prime Minister and the agriculture minister.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, regarding expertise in the area of the cattle business, I happen to have run a ranch myself with over 300 head. I came from Estevan, Saskatchewan, which is my home town. My brother, Donald, still ranches in the Estevan area. I can tell members that without the export markets, primarily the United States market, the beef industry in western Canada is totally dead.

I am amazed at the NDP anti-American attitude, that we can somehow beat up on a country that has over 100 million head of cattle while we have only 10 million head, and that somehow we are going to teach them a lesson. That kind of thinking on trade matters is wrong, wrong, wrong, and I hope that the people of Wynyard and Estevan, Saskatchewan are noting this debate today.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, through you, I will speak directly to my relatives and friends in the Wynyard area of Saskatchewan.

There are a lot of beef producers in that area and we have just heard the official NDP policy that it wants to start a major trade battle with the United States and totally prohibit the importation of beef from the United States. The NDP would have Saskatchewan as part of the supply of beef down to Ontario, Quebec and the maritimes.

I would like to inform the member from Saskatchewan that the Saskatchewan beef industry would shrink to zero and the Saskatchewan beef farmer would starve to death under that type of policy. Why do I say that? It is for the simple reason that Ontario, Quebec and the maritimes are quite capable of supplying their own total domestic supply of beef. They do not need any beef from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta or B.C.

I want to point out very clearly that the NDP is very wrong in saying that it would close off the border to U.S. beef and that somehow that would help the farmers of Saskatchewan. I would ask the member to comment on that.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member when he says that, since 1993 with the Liberal government, agriculture has deteriorated down to the point where we have negative realized net income in the country across the agricultural sectors.

Including Quebec, every province of the country has a lot of dairy. Quebec is the biggest by far. With regard to zoning, the member should know that Quebec has imported hundreds of thousands of head of feeder beef cattle from western Canada over the past few years to put into their feedlots There is a lot of interaction there. I also note that Quebec has sent out a lot of dairy cattle to be killed in the packing plants of Alberta.

There is this interaction and zoning is tough to do when there is that kind of interaction of beef cattle. Quebec is a great exporter of beef on the international scene, exporting 8% of Canada's total. Quebec is very important to the beef industry of Canada.

I would like to ask the member to comment on whether or not this is in fact true, that cattle are moving across the country and that it is difficult to zone one province off from the others?

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that was an interesting comment from the member that people in the beef industry are working with the government and actually running as Liberals in the next election.

Mr. Ted Haney, president of the Beef Export Federation, is running for the Liberals and is campaigning right now in the city of Calgary. He is hoping to get elected in the next election.

How is it that this man, who is supposed to be working for the beef industry, who is supposed to be getting our markets opened up and who is supposed to be selling beef, is running around the city of Calgary trying to get elected to the House of Commons while the beef industry is neglected by the Beef Export Federation? That includes the chairman, Mr. Ben Thorlakson, who is allowing this individual, who is being paid by check-off dollars, to run around and play politics instead of working for farmers.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I remind the parliamentary secretary that until those borders are opened up, it does not matter how many government programs there are. Cattle producers are going to be losing money, the ones who are primarily in the beef industry.

My question for the member is with regard to the cull program. The cull program that was brought out applies only to animals over 30 months of age. Many of the bred heifers that are 24 to 30 months of age and which will be calving in the next few weeks will have to be culled but there is no program for them. The bulls were not included in the cull program. They should have been because every ranch of a commercial size has between 10 and 30 bulls.

There is another thing that the beef industry did not fare very well on. The dairy lobby did a very good job of getting a 16% cull rate applied to the dairy herds. The parliamentary secretary and the Minister of Agriculture have said to the beef industry that it only gets an 8% cull. As a result we end up with the beef producer whose income relies 100% on the sale of beef getting an 8% cull rate and the dairy industry getting 16%.

I am not speaking against the dairy industry. I am saying that the government screwed the beef farmer.

[Agriculture, February 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it has been 10 months since the borders were shut to Canadian beef and the government has not gotten the borders re-opened. Not only that, the government is expecting producers to rely on the CAIS program, of which details have not been finalized.

Realized net income is the worst it has been since statistics were kept in the 1920s.

The Liberal government has been responsible for the viability of the agriculture sector since 1993 and it has done a poor job. The agriculture minister claims to be in charge but has failed miserably at getting the borders re-opened. He has not even completed the necessary regulatory changes that need to be made before the borders are re-opened.

Canadian farm families are facing bankruptcy. It is time the government stands up and takes responsibility for helping our producers and their families through these terrible times.

[Supply, February 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my question for the member involves his statement that he believes Liberal values are synonymous with Canadian values. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the things the Liberals believe in are what some Canadians believe in. However, Canadians are not a group that believes everything the Liberals say are Canadian values are actually that.

The issues we have before the House, everything from the scandal to environmental issues, the member certainly cannot agree with. In the area of the investments by the Canada pension plan, he does not agree that the money should be going there. He seemed to be quite clear on that.

With all the wrong things and the bad judgment that is being used on the Canada pension plan by the Liberal government, how can he remain a member of the Liberal caucus?

[Supply, February 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned, of course, with the sponsorship scandal that is going on around here, with the government giving out contracts for little or no work being done and in particular with the crown corporation allegations, the latest allegations that came out of the Auditor General's report. I remember when the legislation went through in regard to the Canada pension plan being set up, as to actually having the money in the bank to invest as opposed to the government just dumping it into general revenues.

I wonder if the member could tell us if there is any concern about Liberal appointees being put onto this Canada pension plan investment team and about the direction of it. Could he tell us if the Auditor General has the authority to look at the Canada pension plan, how it is handled, where it invests the money and its operation? Who does it report to? Does the member know that offhand?