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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was liberal.

Last in Parliament October 2019, as Conservative MP for Battle River—Crowfoot (Alberta)

Won his last election, in 2015, with 81% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Agriculture October 12th, 2004

Mr. Chair, again I rise tonight to debate probably the most important issue we have had to debate in some time. As my colleague has suggested, we have been debating this since last February, and since the summer of 2003.

I want to thank my colleague from Haldimand--Norfolk for sponsoring this take note debate tonight. The debate is a direct result of a government that has failed to recognize and provide a timely response to the crisis which has severely impacted the cattle industry and all agriculture as a whole. It is the government's failure to implement a program that adequately assists farmers and ranchers devastated by this BSE, a failure that has resulted in losses now estimated to be $2 billion to the primary producers and maybe up to $6 billion or even higher when we consider the agricultural sector, the trucking industries, the auction markets and others. It is a failure that has stakeholders disheartened and discouraged.

As we all know, the two isolated incidents of BSE caused the United States border to close on Canadian beef. To date that door remains closed to all live animals, again because of the government's failure. This closure is due not only but in great part to the soured relations between our two countries, years of neglect and blatant derogatory statements made about our southern neighbours. Now protectionist forces that have picked up the battle cry in the United States have continued to keep the border closed.

The Liberal government's overall approach to this very serious issue has been, realistically speaking, timid and tentative. It is time for the government to act. It must do everything in its power to amend those relations with the United States, and then to assure it and the world that more resources will be focused on the study of BSE and other related diseases. As many have suggested, we must assure the Americans that we will meet our testing targets by January 1 and that we will increase our tests on animals 30 months and older in time to come.

We have an integrated market with the United States, one that this country depends upon very heavily. We must therefore work toward immediately reopening the border to livestock under 30 months and not just for beef and cattle, but to others such as buffalo, camelids, goats and other animals that have never shown signs of BSE or like diseases.

We must develop protocols on acceptable rendering materials with an overview to cross-contaminations. We must develop protocols on the removal and handling of specific risk materials, and I will say that the provincial government has done this. We must develop continental risk assessment rules for minimal disease outbreaks. Right now we are tied to regulations for a country that is going through a BSE outbreak. We need to ensure that the protocols are different for countries with minimal risk. Although there have been some steps, we need to continue on in that direction. Right now we are being treated as if we have had a major BSE outbreak. There are many other countries with many more cases. We have talked about it tonight and we spoke about it last Thursday evening. I think it is a given that we recognize that we must increase slaughter capacity.

I remain very skeptical that the government's proposed $66 million loan loss reserve plan will really significantly help accomplish this. I base this scepticism on a number of people, even today, who have called me. Our member from Edmonton--Spruce Grove spoke about a group. Representatives contacted me as well today. They said that nobody really fully understood the process. When they tried to talk to the government, it seemed that even the bureaucrats did not understand exactly the process. Others have said that they could not get application forms for other parts of the program.

This program, although it has been announced, is not up and running, and it is not running to the degree it should be. Is the government on the right track? I am not sure. Maybe it is. I know one thing. There is such little action here that if people are sitting on any track, they are about to be run over. We have major difficulties when we move into a fall run and producers do not understand programs.

Agriculture October 12th, 2004

Mr. Chairman, in one of the lines that the parliamentary secretary just gave he said that the government needs to respond in haste with a program. We have had 18 months, since May 23, of this carrot being dangled in front of those who would start these kinds of programs or projects and also in front of the producers who are waiting for some help.

I would suggest that the government has had ample opportunity to design a program, to stand in front of the camera and say that the program is here and $66 million is here but we do not have the application forms here. It will take at least 12 months to get some of these packing plants up and running.

The four points of the program that has come out are contingent on the fact that there be more capacity.

If we do not see enough increase in capacity by October 2005 or January 2006, we will have a glut again. The holdback calves that will have been held back and should have been slaughtered in May or June will be held till October or some even later into January. Instead of 700,000 over fat cattle coming on the market, we will have 1.2 million or 1.3 million over fat cattle coming on to the market.

I would encourage the parliamentary secretary, with that sense of urgency that he talks about, to urge the government to do everything it can to clear the way so that these new start-up projects can get quick access. The banks have the security, because right now when these individuals go to the banks, the banks are backing away because of the government's failure.

In my comment I would simply urge the parliamentary secretary to push for more than what we have. There is nothing in here about tax incentives and nothing in here about those who are taking the big risks. All it is, is a low loss reserve to the banks.

Canadian Heritage October 12th, 2004

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Canadian Heritage just said, the Banff television festival is one of the major events, if not the major event of Canada in television and news media. A speech for an event of this significance would be written by a departmental assistant.

My question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Who in her department wrote her predecessor's Banff speech? How many taxpayers' dollars did the government spend to write that type of partisan election stump speech?

Canadian Heritage October 12th, 2004

Mr. Speaker, it was purely a partisan speech, slamming the Conservative leader, slamming this party at a festival that was worth more than that. It was designed solely to slam the opposition during the election. It violated the Canada Elections Act.

What will the minister do--

Canadian Heritage October 12th, 2004

Mr. Speaker, the heritage minister's pathetic attempt to defend the indefensible is an absolute joke.

The Prime Minister's principal secretary, the former heritage minister, slammed the Conservative leader and the Conservative Party 19 times. The speech was purely a partisan speech. Contrary to what the minister said, it is not on the government website. It was designed--

Agriculture October 7th, 2004

Mr. Chair, I want to put on the record a letter that I received from one of my constituents and I will ask a question at the end. The letter states:

I am sure you are aware of the problems that the western farmers and ranchers are facing. Do you realize how serious this is?

We have been ranching for 36 years and never have we been in this financial trouble before. We have mortgaged our ranch to help our two sons purchase land, much to my protest. I did not want to see them go into debt and work hard and get nowhere, but they purchased land anyway.

Over the last four years we have fought drought, grasshoppers and now BSE. Our investments have been cashed in to pay bills, buy feed, et cetera. Now we are broke.

Our farm insurance was due so we shipped five two and three year old purebred Charolais bulls and two purebred Charolais dry cows hoping to receive enough to cover the insurance bill. Guess what? It wasn't enough. I could not believe it.

Enclosed you will find a copy of the sale. Ridiculous! The cost of our utilities, fuel, groceries, repairs, machinery, et cetera has increased drastically, but the beef and the grain we sell is worth less.

Something is wrong with this picture. Our income is selling some calves, cull cows and cull bulls in the fall. We sold some calves last fall, receiving half the price we were expecting. We chose to keep the cull cows and bulls, a mistake. In the spring we sell around $40,000 worth of breeding bulls and heifers. This spring we sold $6,000 worth. How are we to pay our bills and live? Our regular customers did not replace their bulls and older cows because of the poor market.

Our accountant advised us to join CAIS. We did and now received notification to deposit $15,000 into a special account. How in the world do we do that when we have no money? The bank will lend it to us, but it only has to be paid back. I think that would be defeating the purpose.

I realize you cannot control these things but something has to be done. The western ranchers and farmers are in trouble and we need your help now.

The letter is signed by a farm wife from Endiang, Alberta.

This debate is a direct result of the government's failure to recognize and provide a timely response to this crisis. We have been going for 18 months and we still have no access to application forms for any of this. Farmers do not understand the program because the government has not got the information out.

The government announces programs, stands in front of cameras and makes the great announcements. It says it wants to increase capacity, but nothing in this program does anything to increase capacity. Those who want to start are saying they are being pushed back now by the banks. We have a set aside program that is contingent on extra capacity, but few now are stepping up to build packing plants.

The parliamentary secretary in his past has been involved in the agricultural sector, albeit we were never much in agreement with the guy. What hope can he give a farm wife who is watching a family farm disappear, a farm wife who is watching her children who want to get into a generational farm and is begging them not to and is being told that maybe they could enter into this program or that program?

Why has the government failed to plan for this crisis? Why do we fail to react? Why do we come here 18 months after the fact begging for a government to respond in a timely way? Why does the government not act?

Agriculture October 7th, 2004

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois for his passionate discourse this evening on Quebec and on wanting a program that would work in that province. I would encourage him to speak to his provincial government. In Alberta we have a government that did respond to the need. We had a government that stepped up to the plate and took the initiative because we have a minister who understands the industry and the problem and responded. I would encourage the Quebec provincial government to step up to the plate as well.

I would like to ask my colleague a question. As I travelled through my riding this summer, a number of times I was reminded about the series of emergencies that we have had in this country. We had the outbreak of SARS. Two years ago my province of Alberta had the worst drought ever in 133 years. We came close to and were concerned about the foot and mouth disease, but we got hit with the BSE.

It seems the government has a knee-jerk reaction every time it tries to respond, but it has no comprehensive plan that would be ready to go quickly when a disaster strikes. With SARS it was scrambling. With the drought it did not know what to do. With the BSE there was the hope that the border would open soon. This was always the carrot that was being held in front of us: the border will open soon. There was no plan, no action and no assistance. That seems to be the general commentary on what the government does.

In this program the government talks about the need for extra slaughter capacity. Yet when we talk to the individuals who are working hard to try to put together plans and who in some cases come up with over 50% of the funding that is needed, what we hear is that they go to lending institutions and the lending institutions say the money the government is giving is just a pittance. It is a simply a loan loss reserve fund that really is not significant and basically gives very little assurances to the lending institutions.

Many of the banks are asking why they would risk lending to an industry that could go either way, an industry at risk. In many instances when the people putting forward the effort to build the plant come back to their investors, they have to be very careful. If they come back and say the banks are balking because the feds have not developed any tax incentives or anything that is going to really work, they are almost worse off than they were before.

My question to my colleague is whether he believes there should be some type of emergency contingency fund in place that the minister can access quickly so he is not always going to the executive level or to the cabinet, begging and begging. To be quite frank, I believe that any minister would want to be able to come up with more financing. I am sure the treasury is sometimes the biggest frustration the minister faces.

Does the hon. member believe there should be an emergency contingency fund to help producers? Also, what should the government do that would provide banks with more incentives to help capacity grow?

Agriculture October 7th, 2004

Not in Ponoka.

Agriculture October 7th, 2004

Mr. Chair, I want to thank you for allowing us to have this debate this evening. It is the main issue in my riding, as I am sure you understand. Mine is a rural riding that is feeling the effects of the biggest crisis agriculture has faced for decades.

Tonight I want to thank the government, that is, the Alberta government, for stepping up to the plate first, for having a minister who understands the industry and understands the crisis in responding to the degree that she has, and it is not just the minister but in fact the entire government.

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association said in its report, “It is important to recognize that the elements of this plan”--its plan--“are interrelated and cannot be considered independent of each other”.

The program that this government has come up with is absolutely contingent on a number of things happening if it is going to be viewed as a success. First, if the border is to open, many producers, many individuals in the industry, view that as being a possible saviour, as allowing the industry to carry on. The second part, though, is that slaughter capacity must be increased. The extra supply of beef that needs to be processed if it is going to leave this country is an imperative.

This program has a number of different facets to it, but if slaughter capacity is not increased everything else falls apart.

Today I had a call from a constituent who is prepared to move ahead with a slaughter facility in Alberta, a facility that could cost $55 million. It has already secured between $20 million and $25 million. Now when the banks are approached, the banks say that because the federal government has stepped up with such small amounts, a $66 million loan loss reserve fund, much less than many lending institutions ever imagined, they are starting to back away. They say the risk is still too high.

So all the set-aside programs and all the other programs are being jeopardized if we cannot see more capacity resolved. There is nothing in this plan about tax incentives for those who would invest risk capital into start-up projects, either to increase existing plants or to begin new plants. There is nothing in the plan about long term tax incentives for those new plants to start.

Again, a loan loss reserve fund that gives a small degree of security or satisfaction to the lending institutions is perhaps part of it, but why did the government miss an opportunity to tell individuals that if they are putting up money it will make sure that there will be tax incentives that will help them in the long term. Why did the government miss on that?

Crowfoot May 6th, 2004

Mr. Speaker, given that this may be one of the last opportunities I have to rise in the House during this Parliament to make a statement, today I would like to say thanks and farewell to a very significant part of my riding.

It is with a very heavy heart that I bid adieu to the County of Flagstaff and the Municipal Districts of Wainwright and Provost. Unfortunately, due to the electoral boundary changes, after the election I will no longer represent the good people of: Sedgewick, Daysland, Forestburg, Killam, Lougheed, Strome, Alliance, Provost, Hardisty, Hughenden, Heisler, Chauvin, Edgerton, Wainwright, Daysland, Irma, and Amisk.

Fortunately for me, however, over the last four years I have traveled extensively into these parts of Crowfoot and I have had the privilege of meeting many fine people. It has been a real pleasure to attend or participate in so many events and celebrations in these truly rural Alberta communities.

To the County of Flagstaff and the Municipal Districts of Wainwright and Provost, I say thanks for making my first term as the member of Parliament for Crowfoot such a memorable one.