Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, the BSE border closure has caused a backlog of livestock across the country, and the need for more slaughter capacity is a must. New start-ups have been trying to access Farm Credit Canada's venture investment fund to start their operations. Many producers are skepti

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, just to follow up, the deadline is approaching, and not because they do not have their plan in place. They have a good plan. They have an opportunity to buy a plant in the U.S. and move it up here. The deadline is on the offer to purchase. If they do not have their fin

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, the hon. member across the way was talking about SRMs and how it has become necessary for us to remove SRMs in our food processing systems. Because of the SRM criteria, we essentially have had to go to designating plants as being either for youthful animals or for mat

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, in his speech the hon. member talked about the isolation, or that the Quebec cow herd should not have been roped into the same category as the rest of Canada since the BSE crisis broke out in Alberta. There is one thing I want to acknowledge. I want to thank the Quebec

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, I just want to follow up on the comment by the parliamentary secretary about how much this has cost the industry. He tried to paint the picture. From my own personal experience as a cattle producer and from talking to friends and fellow producers in my area, I know th

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, today I would like to address the devastation felt by ranchers and farmers across Canada. BSE has negatively affected farm and ranch families and has impacted all the towns and small businesses in my riding of Selkirk--Interlake. Producers have not been able to keep

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, I was disappointed with the Speech from the Throne. The mention of agriculture was relegated to three letters and one word. I believe that this issue is so important that we need to be debating it and it needs to be the foremost priority of the government. I encourage

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, yes, I believe we need to remove these barriers. It does not concern me as a producer. I believe most producers would say that they would like to see a good two-way trade. That will help cultivate the discussion to opening the border totally for live animal trade acros

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, I have not yet heard exactly what the feeder set-aside program will look like for the Province of Manitoba. That is part of the problem. Every province may change the programs to some degree, and they pick and choose in what portions they want to participate. I have a

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, I rise to speak in the House for the first time and I too would like to thank the confidence bestowed upon me by the great people of Selkirk--Interlake. I am a cattle producer. My riding is heavily dependent upon cattle production as well as the other ruminant industr