Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud to speak to this afternoon's debate on the income crisis in the pork and beef industry.
It is important for me to rise in this House and speak to this matter, as I did in the emergency debate a few weeks ago. Why is it important? Because this situation is so important to my riding of Madawaska—Restigouche. This is a harsh reality for the producers and farmers there.
Often we think this crisis only affects those who live in rural areas, but it affects the entire country. People in my riding and across the country provide very high quality food for the Canadian consumer.
We also have to realize that these farmers and producers are going through a major crisis that can prevent them from providing that very high quality food for the Canadian consumer. For them this crisis is so significant that a number of them are considering simply leaving agriculture, in a wide range of sectors, but mainly in the beef sector.
Why is this happening? People are feeling abandoned by the federal government. They know they have to provide high quality food to the public, but they are facing a number of challenges. One of those challenges is foreign competition. Take the beef industry for example. Beef can be imported into any region of the country, from almost anywhere.
Before I go on, I would like to point out that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Saint Boniface, who will certainly have the chance to explain what kind of support people from urban centres would like to see given to producers in rural areas.
As I mentioned, producers are facing a number of challenges. One of those challenges is certainly competition, but there are others. We must help our producers. The wealth of rural areas began with agriculture. The settlement of Canada and all our regions began with agriculture. We must be able to continue to support producers and show them that their federal government will support them not only today, but also in the future. They are currently going through tough times.
Federal government support is so piecemeal that we wonder why the government is acting this way.
Various factors are behind the crisis these people are going through. We know that feed costs are on the rise. Beef producers have to feed their animals and fatten them up. The cost of feed has gone up. The price of gasoline and diesel has also risen.
As I mentioned in the emergency debate, the sky is the limit. We know that the Conservative government is singing the same tune as when it was in opposition. The Conservatives believe that the market should take care of everything. But we need to look closely at the situation. Consumers are not the only ones paying the price. The people at the grassroots level, our farmers, are the most affected by the crisis.
Gasoline is certainly another factor, but there are also energy costs. These are significant costs for producers. For a farmer who heats with oil in winter, costs are going up steadily. It is incredible.
Another factor we have to consider is the rise in value of the Canadian dollar, which is having a detrimental impact on our farmers. At present, the higher Canadian dollar and competition from foreign products are two of the things that are hurting our farmers the most.
Here is the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. I will read it in English, if that is all right, because I have the English version here:
In order to return to profitability, the beef and pork sectors will need to adjust to the realities of higher feed grain prices and a stronger dollar.
That is easy to say. Everyone agrees that there would be no problem if producers were able to get better prices for their animals, because of the rising price of grain, the rising prise of gas and the strength of the Canadian dollar. However, that is not the reality.
The government made its response public on April 9, 2008. It was not surprising to hear such remarks. But what was even worse were the comments made by the Prime Minister a few weeks prior to that, specifically because of the strength of the Canadian dollar. The Prime Minister made the comments during a forum he was attending in Toronto. He said that, unlike the opposition parties, he does not believe that every problem that arises requires immediate financial intervention from the government. The Prime Minister maintained that it is a mistake to believe that every problem demands high-cost intervention or subsidization.
How can the parliamentary secretary and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food rise in this House and tell us they are here to support Canadian farmers who are facing a crisis at this time for a number of reasons, including the strong Canadian dollar? Yet only a few weeks ago, rather than saying that things are not going well for the economy, and that the Canadian dollar is one of the problems affecting our economy and our farmers, the Prime Minister turned around and said that the government would not automatically be there to help our citizens and our industries through subsidies.
What is the message? Once again, we are hearing mixed messages, as I said recently. The government stands up in front of Parliament and in front of the cameras and says one thing, but when it comes time to act, it does the opposite.
The proof is that since the Conservatives came to power, we have seen them implement programs here and there and make hasty announcements for farmers because they realize that they have made a mistake. They make another hasty announcement because they realize that they have not necessarily targeted the right group, and they are not actually helping the people who need it in the current circumstances. And yet this has changed nothing. I recently participated in the emergency debate, and afterwards farmers told me that what I said is true—they are in the middle of a crisis, but there is no help for them.
I remember the program that was announced by the Prime Minister on March 9, 2007, again, at the eleventh hour. He said that he would help farmers. During the emergency debate, I gave the example that producers in my area were receiving 26¢ per year for each head of cattle they owned. Does that seem like assistance that will offset the increase in feed costs and the rising Canadian dollar? In any case, with 26¢, these farmers could not even think about putting a litre of gas or diesel in their vehicle.
How do you think they will survive? It is not a matter of coping but of surviving. That is the challenge farmers face today. If we do not want to lose them, as has happened in other industries, we must ensure that the Conservative government finally wakes up and gives our farmers the money they need to make it through this crisis. This will also reassure Canadians about the quality of food they put on the table for their children. This food will be of excellent quality and will meet Canadian standards, compared to foreign products that meet foreign standards, which are often inferior to ours.
Let us help our farmers once and for all. Had the government done its job, we would not be debating this issue, we would not have needed an emergency debate and farmers would not be telling me that they earn 26¢ per head of livestock per year in times of crisis.
The Prime Minister has spoken. He has said that the government does not intervene in a major crisis. He does not believe in subsidies. Yet other countries heavily subsidize their industries and send us goods of inferior quality. Why are our farmers not receiving the help they deserve today from the federal government?
