House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2019, with 47% of the vote.
Agriculture November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, day after day, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food keeps trying to sell us on the merits of his meagre program announced on September 10. Yet it contains nothing to remedy the great harm done to dairy producers, nothing to reduce the huge surplus numbers of cull cattle, nothing concrete to open up the border.
How long will it take before we see any real slaughter facilities in the east and in the west?
Agriculture November 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the U.S. border has now been closed to the trade of live Canadian cattle for 531 days. The government's inaction and failure to open the border has forced the Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade to file a chapter 11 claim under NAFTA.
I ask the agriculture minister, when will his government take responsibility, stand with the cattle industry and file challenges at the WTO and under chapter 20 of NAFTA?
Agriculture November 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, it is not just beef producers that are suffering from the Liberal insults to the Americans, but dairy producers as well. Will pork or poultry producers, or agri-food processors soon also have to pay the price for the Liberal caucus insults?
In his infamous announcement on September 10, why did the minister ignore the dairy producers?
Agriculture October 28th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, when? Producers who have applied for the CAIS program are asking the Liberal government to show them the money. Many are still waiting for their cash advances for 2003.
I ask the agriculture minister, why is he failing farmers by not ensuring that desperate producers who have applied already for the CAIS program receive the cash they need right away?
Agriculture October 28th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the U.S. border has been closed to Canadian livestock for 526 days. Producers now more than ever need immediate disaster relief. Currently the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program requires producers to pay in large deposits just to trigger payouts. This is at a time when producers can least afford it.
When will the minister commit to getting rid of the onerous cash deposit requirement?
Supply October 21st, 2004
Madam Speaker, we have been asked to tone down the rhetoric and deal with the facts. That is an honourable ambition, so let us look at some of the facts.
It is easy to determine where the priorities of the government lie when we have more people on the payroll dunning us for taxes than troops defending our country. There are 54,000 employees at the Canada Revenue Agency and 52,000 troops. That is a fact; that is not hyperbole. The priority is on tax collectors over troops.
In 1993 the Liberal government cancelled the helicopter contract that was already in place at a cost of $.5 billion to Canadians. The promise was that the government would replace that contract with a better contract soon. Guess what, it has not happened yet. That is a fact.
Our Sea Kings are 50 years old. Every hour that they are in the air, they need 30 hours of maintenance on the ground. This is a fact.
Our sub fleet is grounded again and our Cormorant helicopters have been grounded for the second time this year. These are facts, not rhetoric. When the emotion gets a little high, it is not rhetoric. It is justifiable outrage.
Agriculture October 18th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the last hog trade dispute with the U.S. lasted 15 years. The industry cannot afford yet another lengthy trade dispute. According to the chairman of the Manitoba pork council and I quote:
The duties announced today will have a profound effect upon the nation’s swine exporters.
Why has the government done nothing to prevent this protectionist action from happening in the first place?
Agriculture October 18th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, last Friday the United States department of commerce announced unfair preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian hogs. This decision means that Canadian hog producers now have to post potentially crippling bonds on their pork exports to the United States.
I ask the international trade minister, is it not true that the government's mismanagement of Canada-U.S. relations may result in U.S. protectionism hurting our farmers once again?
Tobacco Industry October 18th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers deserve more respect from the Liberal government.
In my riding of Haldimand—Norfolk and in nearby Oxford and Elgin—Middlesex—London, hundreds of tobacco farmers are losing their livelihood as a result of direct actions of the government.
Under World Health Organization rules, when governments force industries out of business they must adequately compensate those industries.
Prior to the last election, the former agriculture minister promised the tobacco farming industry that farmers would be paid for being forced out of business. Not only was the offer paltry by international standards but repeated requests for details about the plan have gone unanswered. What is worse is that tobacco farmers have not seen one cent of these promised funds.
Once more the government has failed to honour its commitments to our farmers. Canada's farmers demand and deserve better.
Agriculture October 12th, 2004
Madam Chair, earlier this evening I asked the member across the way what the government's position was on meeting the needs of Quebec. At that time it was suggested, wrongly, that I was looking for special treatment for Quebec.
What was said instead was that the government plan was designed to provide equity to all regions of the country, which is laudable, but I have to admit I am bit confused by that. On Friday, the fed cattle set-aside program was launched. It was announced by the Alberta government, which had already registered its producers as bidders, but the Ontario government to this day has no mechanism by which its producers are registered for the bidding process, a bidding process, I might add, which was launched Thanksgiving Monday morning. This first round closes tomorrow, Wednesday, at noon.
The program was announced on Friday, to start Monday and close at Wednesday noon. A call to Agriculture Canada this morning from an Ontario producer looking for information was redirected to the ministry of agriculture for Ontario. A subsequent call to the Ontario ministry of agriculture yielded nothing but a voice mail with no return call. This producer was trying to sign up for this new program for which producers are at this point eligible only until Wednesday noon.
This is my question for the hon. member. If this is equity or if this is supposed to be an equitable program, how is it that producers in Alberta who have already signed up can take advantage of this program but producers in Ontario cannot?