Agriculture committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting us to speak this morning. This is a really important step for us. We came here in 2006 for the same reasons. That was when the crisis began. Now it is 2009, and we are back with the same problem. We have not yet found a solution t

Finance committee  One need only look at the latest statistics on federal intervention in recent years. Previously, 40% of comprehensive interventions in respect of farm businesses in Quebec came from the federal government, and approximately 20% from the provincial government. Today, it's the rev

Finance committee  Since the measure was put in place, it hasn't been increased, and the value of farm businesses today is in the order of $1 million.

Finance committee  It's from $900,000 to $1 million.

Finance committee  ...in order to manage to have an income. There's no adjustment for the increase in property values.

Finance committee  We proposed that measure in the perspective of promoting the intergenerational transfer of farm businesses. In agriculture, as a result of the money invested and income generated by that invested money, when the business has to be transferred from one generation to the next, the

Finance committee  Good afternoon. I want to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for receiving us this afternoon. The union is still very much concerned by the issue of government intervention in the agricultural sector. It is therefore with renewed pleasure that I am tabling

Agriculture committee  On the subject of support for the agriculture industry, when the time comes where farms will be shut down, year after year, because people can’t make a living from them anymore, choices will need to be made. Government action will need to be taken. If we want to obtain the highe

Agriculture committee  As I mentioned earlier, balance will be achieved when there is only one producer and one buyer. Negotiating power would be equally divided. Once this objective is reached, we must be aware that several farms and producers living off of their businesses will have come up short and

Agriculture committee  The important thing is to return to where producers have control of the situation. Mr. Penner stated that the government imposed directives, directions and a market on the producers, but that isn’t what should be done. There are democratic structures built up within the Board. It

Agriculture committee  Mr. Lebeau was there. I’ll let him take over, and then I’ll wrap up.

Agriculture committee  Our intervention is primarily focused on the concept. Having experimented in marketing agricultural products over the years, I would say that there is a great temptation for a producer—and I think it’s human nature—to try to get a better price than his fellow producer. According

Agriculture committee  Hello, Mr. Chairman. I will be speaking in French. I will try not to speak too quickly, so that the simultaneous interpretation can be clear. My name is Denis Bilodeau and I am second vice-president of the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec, the UPA. I am happy that you