Agriculture committee  We may be naive, but we were very pleased because the announcement was made and the four parties agreed. So, yes, we thought it would work.

Agriculture committee  In my opinion, it's exactly the same thing. At the present time, we have the AgriInvestment program for periods when production margins decrease by less than 15%, but it's very little. It covers the same programs. I don't see a big difference. In terms of grain production, prices have gone up.

Agriculture committee  We really never got an answer. A program called “Cost of Production Payment” was announced in Saskatchewan several years ago to help out producers, because of increased production costs. That program was replaced with AgriFlex, but the cost production component of the program was removed.

Agriculture committee  That was my perception and I was fairly certain that it was going to happen. It was announced in La Terre de Chez Nous, a farming magazine in Quebec. When Mr. Paradis came to meet with the UPA before the election, he said that there should be enough flexibility to include risk management.

Agriculture committee  Well, for me right now, AgriFlex is a program without flexibility. We were pushing for that. We thought before the election that the four parties, I believe, had agreed and had pushed for AgriFlex. But it didn't come out as we thought. If you go back to 2005 to 2007, there was $1.5 billion, normally, of federal money going to ad hoc programs.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Erin. AgriFlex was intended to complement the Growing Forward agenda and to include the Business Risk Management component. This announcement was a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done. I am here today to ask that the risk management component be included in the AgriFlex program.

Agriculture committee  We'll start with Mrs. Fletcher. Ladies first.

Finance committee  Quebec has the agricultural revenue stabilization program known as ASRA. The federal government has the AgriStability program.

Finance committee  I would not say that we are minor grain producers but that we have different crops. Soya is the main crop in eastern Canada. It was more a question of having the same needs. In talking, we realized that we had the same needs. Ontario could also give its opinion.

Finance committee  At present, the Agricultural Flexibility Fund is not flexible. Initially, we asked where the greatest needs were. Grains and oilseeds are doing fairly well at present in Canada and that is not where the needs are. However, pork producers do need help. The money could go there this year in certain provinces.

Finance committee  If the grain sector, if there is supply management—

Finance committee  Not really, but in a certain sense, yes. With regard to the amber box, the current figure is $4.3 billion. If there are changes, if there is support for the WTO, there could be a reduction of $2.3 billion. That could lead to changes in the type of program funding.

Finance committee  Not that I know of. There was supposed to be a consultation on how to have a better program for business risk management, but we didn't hear if it was finalized yet.

Finance committee  I will continue in French. Each year the government disburses ad hoc payments to address unpredictable hardships faced by farmers. This ad hoc funding—defined as funds in excess of CAIS and Production Insurance—–averaged $2.5 billion per year for 2004-2006 according to Statistics Canada.

Agriculture committee  Yes, it's the same question about NATO, and I've also talked about the WTO. It's a question almost within a question. Is it working? Well, on January 8 Canada started consultations with the U.S. on U.S. subsidies on corn to see if they started a WTO challenge. Does it show so far that it worked?