These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
CAIS
Mr.
Barry Devolin (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, CPC): Mr. Speaker,
most people agree that one meaningful way to measure the success of a new
government program is to look at the take-up rate. For example if 70% or
80% of intended recipients take up a new program, this suggests people
know about it, want it and believe it is in their best interest to sign up
for it.
By this standard the CAIS program is a complete failure. In Kawartha Lakes
it is reported that just 47 out of hundreds of farmers have signed up for
CAIS.
Why does the minister continue to defend the CAIS program when it has so
obviously failed the vast majority of Canadian farmers?
Hon. Andy Mitchell (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, I suspect that those producers who today have received almost
half a billion dollars in CAIS payments would totally disagree with the
hon. member.
We have worked very diligently with the industry and we have worked very
diligently with producers to make sure that we take any actions that we
need to so that this program can be delivered in an efficient and timely
manner.
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