David Anderson

[Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, February 4th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, we have no plan so far to deal with the cull cows. We have no new slaughter facilities. We have no feed regulations dealing with rendered feed. We have no investigation of the packers. And our borders are still closed.

The question I want to ask of the minister is this. On the new compensation plan, the packers are now lowering their prices by 10¢ to 20¢ per pound and the farmers are coming in and losing that money. I want to know what the minister is doing to ensure that the money is going to end up in the producer's hands, not in the packer's as it did in the last program.

[Agriculture, February 3rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, on May 20, 2003, BSE created a corral full of troubles for the Canadian beef industry: borders were fenced off, international markets dried up faster than a prairie creek and ranchers stared at the horizon waiting for leadership.

Eight months have passed, a summer, a fall and a winter, a long time, but not enough time for the government to solve the problem.

While yesterday's throne speech totally ignored agriculture, there are solutions. Can we investigate the packers, as the agriculture committee asked months ago? Can we increase slaughter capacity to deal with the surplus of culled cows? Can we conclude the necessary international protocols?

Ranchers are sick of the government's inaction. How long will it take farmers to see real change? How long do ranchers have to wait for real leadership? The answer is: when the Conservative Party of Canada forms the next government.

[Ethics, October 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is one excuse after another why the cabinet does not have to abide by its own rules.

The labour minister broke the rules. She apologized and received a standing ovation from her colleagues. The industry minister broke the rules and gave a half-hearted apology. Now he is waiting for absolution from the ethics counsellor. The government House leader broke the rules and he was fired.

I would like to ask the government House leader, does he believe that this was fair?

[Ethics, October 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, another day, another scandal. This time it is the fisheries minister, a fly-in to an exclusive, Irving-owned salmon resort just so that he could be lobbied, an overnight stay on the Restigouche with 13 employees at his beck and call, a free night's stay for the minister. Now he tells us that this is within the guidelines.

How can Canadians possibly believe that this free gift was worth less than $200?

[Canadian Wheat Board, October 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, as if farmers in Canada have not suffered enough loss and devastation as a direct result of government apathy. Now grain producers in western Canada will not likely receive a final payment for wheat and barley sold by the Canadian Wheat Board in 2002-03 because the board pulled out of a lucrative world market and then sold into a depressed world market.

The Wheat Board's lack of competitive drive has resulted in sales so low that the federal government will be required to subsidize its initial payments out of the public purse. What we do not know is how much that subsidy will be. The minister will not tell us and the board's marketing information is locked up tighter than Fort Knox.

It has to be asked. What are they hiding? Was it not just last week that the Auditor General severely chastised the government for its lack of transparency? It is a simple question that I ask. What is the Wheat Board's deficit and how much will it cost taxpayers?

[Canadian Wheat Board, September 26th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it does not add up. We are three months past the end of the crop year and farmers still do not know what their final 2002-03 prices are.

Farmers are actually beginning to suspect that this year's crop and this year's money is being used to finance last year's deficit and last year's marketing failure.

I am going to ask the minister this, has the Canadian Wheat Board been illegally using this year's grain sales to bring last year's pool accounts out of the hole?

[Canadian Wheat Board, September 26th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, each year the federal government guarantees the initial price of grain sold by western Canadian farmers. Each grade and pool of grain has a separate account. The Canadian Wheat Board is then supposed to market that grain at a higher price. This did not happen last year. In 2002-03 we had a complete marketing disaster. Canadian taxpayers are left on the hook for any shortfalls.

My question for the minister is, how many of the pool accounts are in deficit and what is the total amount of that deficit?

[Petitions, September 24th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, today I would like to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Leader and Eatonia, two great communities in my riding.

The petitioners are concerned about protecting our children, and are calling upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

[Petitions, June 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by several hundred of my constituents in the riding of Cypress Hills--Grasslands who want to draw the attention of the House to the following: that marriage is the best foundation for families and for the raising of children; that the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman is being challenged; and that this hon. House passed a motion in June 1999 that called for marriage to continue to be defined as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

The petitioners, therefore, call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

This petition includes petitioners from communities as diverse as Morton Lake, Caronport, Chaplin, Swift Current, Leader, Richmound, Herbert, Mendham, Shamrock, Hodgeville, Assiniboia, Rockglen, Limerick and Maple Creek.

[Agriculture, June 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, science has become the mantra of the minister. He thinks that if he keeps saying it long enough we are going to go away. That is not going to happen.

For five years the elk industry has been buried under the heading of science and the government has avoided its responsibilities.

This is a one cow crisis that seems to be turning into the excuse for a full-out trade barrier by the United States. Specifically, what are the Americans demanding from us before they will open the border to our beef?