Agriculture committee  Of course it would be hard for us to start over farming something else. For some people, it is a matter of age. Let us not fool ourselves: a 65-year-old will probably not consider that to be an option. Right now, we are expecting businesses to merge, such as medium-sized farms th

Agriculture committee  It is like we said in 2006, except that now, it is even worse. You know, after a crisis like the one that happened in Saint-Amable in 2006 or the one in Alberta, people feel discouraged, then they began to wonder why they are doing it. We were all hoping that, a year later, gover

Agriculture committee  With the CFIA, it was a matter of time. We were promised certain things, whether by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, the Fédération des producteurs de pommes de terre, the gardeners. Every possible committee was there that day. It was all about business. All of the stakeholders

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I was nervous when I came here in 2006, and I am still nervous today. It is not easy to speak in front of a group of people. I am a farmer, so I am not used to speaking in public, but I will do my best. What has happened since 2006? Quite simply, our sector was wiped

Agriculture committee  I am an innovator, but I don’t have any answers today. I don’t know where I’m going. I tell my son, daughter and child that I wonder what we’re going to do next year. Usually, I can always come up with a solution to a problem, but right now, I’m stuck, really stuck. We still wa

Agriculture committee  We aren’t the only ones who have gone through this. It was like this in the past too. We don’t care about jurisdictional arguments between the federal and provincial governments. The governments have to work together to find a solution. Let us take a little break. Distributing t

Agriculture committee  We are all businessmen here. I attended a working group meeting. We had a decision to make: open 95% of the Quebec border because we were losing millions of dollars a day. I was the good old’ boy in the room. I basically had to agree and say that it was a logical business decisio

Agriculture committee  Potatoes generate $3,000 to $4,000 an acre. Don’t ask me to grow corn for $300 an acre. If the government, for the greater good, were to agree to reimburse the difference for 10 years, we’ll make a smooth transition and lower our costs. But it remains that it isn’t viable.

Agriculture committee  I will speak on behalf of the group. What is most important, is that people get paid tomorrow. The short-term is tomorrow, it isn’t in three months. With regard to the medium and long-term, we should form a committee with the people of Saint-Amable and the UPA, and agree on what

Agriculture committee  AMA-Terre is made up of people affiliated with the UPA. Some black market producers aren’t included in the group, but we still represent over 96% of producers who live off of their farms, be they small, medium or large. We represent all businesses, whether they are nurseries or p

Agriculture committee  There will have to be a serious reflexion with regard to government assistance. In my opinion, there will be tough choices to make this winter, specifically, who will continue and who will feel like continuing, given the restrictions. We can’t forget about the restrictions. Let’

Agriculture committee  I would like to add something, if I may. In the Saint-Amable region, land is worth about $7,000 to $8,000 an arpent. One would think that if people pay $7,000 to $8,000 an arpent, that it would be viable. We created AMA-Terre to be more united. But being “united” doesn’t mean m

Agriculture committee  I visited all of Saint-Amable’s farms, accompanied by representatives of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It was the worst day of my life. I saw all the emotion, the tears, the despair. People were shaking their heads. Saint-Amable may no

Agriculture committee  You spoke earlier about potatoes intended for processing. I experienced this as a producer. Let us speak in terms of vans, as that is a language that everyone can understand. Each van contains approximately 35 tons. I sent potatoes destined to be made into fries. We all know that

Agriculture committee  Good day. I would like to thank you for welcoming me here today. I am very nervous, but I’will do my best. I would like to introduce you to my group. My name is Philippe Gemme, farmer and spokesperson for AMA-Terre. AMA-Terre is made up of producers of various products. We mana