Mr. Speaker, I have the honour tonight of splitting my time with the member for Medicine Hat.
As the agriculture and agrifood critic for the official opposition, I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Battlefords—Lloydminster and vice-chair of the agriculture committee, for initiating this urgently needed debate on the ongoing BSE crisis in Canada.
It is vital that this debate take place because it is important that all Canadians, including those in urban centres, fully appreciate the absolutely dire situation that the Canadian cattle and other ruminant industries are facing at this time.
Our producers have suffered greatly at the hands of free-trading mercenaries south of the border. They have suffered at the hands of protectionist politicians. They have suffered at the hands of this Liberal government, which has mismanaged this agricultural crisis, one of the worst in Canadian history.
Before I go on, I would like to put this debate in a historical context. It has now been 657 days since the U.S. border was unjustly closed to Canadian cattle and other ruminants. Throughout this time, our producers have endured untold personal and financial suffering.
It is estimated that our farmers have already lost well over $7 billion. Billions more are likely to follow. The ripple effect of these losses has significantly affected the trucking industry, the auction marts, equipment dealers and many other industries that do business with cattle producers.
Rural municipalities are suffering from decreased tax revenues. In fact, many farmers and affected businesses have been unable to pay their municipal taxes.
To highlight the seriousness of this situation, 79 municipalities in western Canada have declared their regions an economic disaster zone. As of December 3, 2004, there were 41 municipalities in Alberta, 26 in Manitoba and 12 in Saskatchewan that had declared their regions an economic disaster zone as a result of BSE.
In this context, the largest calf crop in history occurred in the spring of 2004. During this time 4.7 million calves were born in Canada. On top of all this, after countless Liberal assurances that the border would reopen, assurances from both this minister and the previous minister, Canadian cattle and other ruminant producers have once again had their hopes dashed.
Two recent U.S. court decisions and a vote in the U.S. Senate have delivered further blows to our already beleaguered livestock industry. To add insult to injury, today we have heard allegations that members of the protectionist group R-CALF are currently paying bargain basement prices for Canadian cattle off our very own feedlots.
Yes, the same free trade mercenaries who argue that Canadian cattle are unsafe to eat and that the apocalypse will occur if ever Canadian cattle were to cross the 49th parallel, are the same ones who are allegedly purchasing Canadian cattle right off our feedlots. If this is true it is beyond reprehensible, as they are only taking advantage of lower prices that they themselves created.
Our farmers are reaching the breaking point. They are losing their hope, their farms and their livelihoods.
How has the government responded to the BSE crisis? Let us take a closer look.
The CAIS program is not working, the loan loss reserve program does not really exist and the Liberal government continues to insist that the Americans are our friends in this crisis although it continues to find ways to insult them and disrespect them.
The Liberal solution of using the CAIS program to deliver emergency aid to cash-strapped producers suffering from the BSE crisis has been a colossal failure. Simply combining an income stabilization program with a disaster relief program is in itself a recipe for disaster.
That is why as a short term solution we are calling on the Liberal government to immediately dip into its massive surpluses to help Canadian farm families in need, more in need now than they have ever been.
We demand that the government immediately use the budget's contingency funds to help our cattle and livestock farmers. Further, we are calling on the government to provide tax deferrals on 2004 income for producers devastated by the BSE crisis.
With regard to slaughter capacity, there are currently 17 million head of cattle in Canada. Although slaughter capacity has increased slightly to approximately 85,000 a week, the number of cattle in Canada still significantly exceeds our current slaughter capacity. This massive surplus of cattle continues to result in depressed cattle prices and therefore production costs continue to significantly exceed market prices. No one can make a living that way.
The Liberal loan loss reserve program announced last September was supposed to help stimulate additional slaughter capacity in this country. In spite of this agriculture minister's often bragged about program, slaughter capacity has not increased one iota as a result of the loan loss reserve program.
We know this because we have recently learned that the program is a sham. It does not really exist. The fact that this loan loss reserve program does not exist is an insult to livestock producers so desperately impacted by the BSE crisis. To add insult to injury, the Liberals announced in the budget that $17 million is to be redirected from previous BSE commitments to this non-existent program. The minister is simply offering would-be slaughterhouse investors the sleeves off his vest.
Today in question period I noted that the Minister of Agriculture made an announcement that a loan loss reserve agreement had in fact been reached with the Farm Credit corporation. That is good, but it took six months to get that agreement. Has an agreement been reached with the banks yet? Not at all, but then we have only been waiting six months. Desperately needed are real incentives to increase slaughter capacity for investment and processing plants now.
We have been calling on the Liberal government to provide tax incentives for investment in co-operatives. Providing tax relief on the initial investment in a co-op would stimulate increased slaughterhouse investment and promote a made in Canada solution to the BSE crisis, which is something we have all been looking for. In addition, the government must ensure direct loan underwriting for the development of increased slaughter capacity.
With regard to the impact of the BSE crisis on other ruminant producers, I have said this before and I will say it again, why has this government failed to take any real action in addressing these particular producers' needs? Recently we learned that all four western provinces have developed BSE programs to compensate producers of elk, deer, bison, sheep and goats. Other ruminant, cervid and camelid producers who have suffered unjustly during this crisis have demanded and continued to demand action from the government. So far their demands have fallen on deaf ears. This is shameful.
We in the Conservative Party have asked and continue to ask the agriculture minister to ante up and kick in the federal portion of this funding for other ruminant programs, ones already committed to by the western provinces. Furthermore, as a result of the massive surplus of cattle in the Canadian herd, we believe that a federal cull program is necessary now more than ever.
In light of the continued closure of the U.S. border to Canadian live cattle, a cull program is no longer just an option but a necessity. The cull program should be targeted to animals born before the 1997 feed ban. The meat from these animals should whenever possible be used for human or animal feed as appropriate.
A reduction of the national herd with compensation to farmers would serve three purposes. First, it would provide cash immediately to the farmers. Second, it would relieve farmers of the burden of feeding their cattle. Third, it would decrease the herd size so that market prices could be allowed to rise naturally. It is worth noting that the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is supportive of a cull animal program.
I wish to close by saying that our farmers are fed up with the government's empty rhetoric and hollow promises. I and all of my colleagues in the Conservative Party of Canada implore the agriculture minister to secure real relief from the contingency fund for our producers in their time of need.
No one is arguing the safety of our beef. We know it is the best in the world. What we are arguing for is direct support for our farmers and producers. They need it. They deserve it.
