Agriculture committee  That's a good question. The province has no extra money for these kinds of things—that's usually the answer that we get. We recognize that everyone is dealing with deficit budgets, but that gets to the willingness to invest in agriculture.

Agriculture committee  As I understand it, it was done to decrease the oversupply of hogs.

Agriculture committee  We had a discussion with CPC and we were aware that they were not supportive of vocally being seen as being supportive of a different strategy in the Atlantic provinces. But we told the Canadian Pork Council, “You recognize that the Atlantic region does not contribute; we are a n

Agriculture committee  I think you're absolutely right, Mark. I don't want to keep throwing out problems, but the problem is that P.E.I. has been in commodity production for the last 30 years. That is the mindset. That is what producers were encouraged to do when the Canadian dollar was at 60 cents:

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I've got to reference quickly this hog transition program, where farmers were encouraged to bid against each other to get out of the industry because we have an oversupply of hogs in the country, when Atlantic Canada does not contribute to the oversupply. This is a p

Agriculture committee  I'll start quickly to say that industry feels very strongly that it should be setting the policy for agriculture in this country. It should not be government's job. Industry has to take on that responsibility. I get very frustrated when we sit around a table and point fingers at

Agriculture committee  Thank you for your question. The answer is no. Nothing has changed. But we have said that for a long time. Farmers continue to lose their equity. The problem is that we say that everyday. No one really listens, or no one wants to listen.

Agriculture committee  Perhaps it is because farmers have said it for a long time. Perhaps it is because we seem to have been crying wolf. Maybe for a long time we've been crying wolf, but the reality is we are all getting to the cliff. In the Atlantic provinces, we are about to go over the cliff. An

Agriculture committee  If I could just quickly add to that, one point that's being made, and I've heard it a few times now, is that the business risk management programs have put out $1 billion less this year, and I think they're projected to put out $1.5 billion less next year. So the perception is th

Agriculture committee  I will finish the presentation. Another area where federal policy requires immediate attention is the regulatory framework for Canadian farmers compared to what exists for imported agriculture products into Canada. Are we certain that all food that is imported into Canada meets

Agriculture committee  We have joint presentations. Ernie Mutch is the president of the association, so he'll start.

Finance committee  No, I can't say that. Our parent, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, may, but we do not specifically.

Finance committee  Hopefully we would still see at least as many farms as we see today, but I'm not sure that in twenty years we will see that many. We'd like to be able to see those farms that are still there be profitable and continue to provide healthy and sustainable food to the maritime region

Finance committee  We're trying to get a sense of how many dollars we think it would take. We have a number in our document here for P.E.I. We're suggesting that we start with $5 million a year. That's based on our livestock and grain strategy, which is still being developed. So to answer your ques

Finance committee  Just quickly, the four Atlantic ministers of agriculture did recently sign an MOU that they want to work together. It's a nice document and it says a lot of nice things, but we need some action--some real action and some real cooperation. And I agree with you that too often farme