These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Farm Income Program
Mr. Myron Thompson
(Wild Rose, CPC): Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Agriculture
bragged about the millions paid out to producers.
A couple in my riding, Dan
and Wanda Meyer from Didsbury, Alberta, both have to work off the farm in
order to pay utilities and put food on the table for their three children.
They were excited when they saw a brown envelope with a cheque for the
direct payment portion of farm income payment. When they opened the
envelope the cheque was in the whopping amount of $106.40, far short of
the few thousand that they were expecting.
Given the large amount of
cash in brown envelopes changing Liberal hands in Montreal restaurants,
how can the minister sleep at night knowing that near destitute farmers
are receiving this pittance?
Hon. Andy Mitchell
(Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I go back
to the point that I made before to the hon. critic, and that is the
importance of not trying to politicize this to score points on the floor
of the House of Commons.
The reality is that we
have had a number of programs, particularly in terms of BSE over $2
billion. At the year end we had another program valued at over $1 billion.
Already 70% of that money has flowed. Hundreds of thousands of producers
are benefiting from that.
As a government we will
continue with the strong commitment to Canadian producers that we have
demonstrated in the past. We will continue to do that in the future.
Mr. Myron Thompson
(Wild Rose, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I wonder what the minister would have
to say to the families of the four most recent suicides in Saskatchewan.
Wendy and Doug Newton are
from my riding. They are a hardworking couple from Crossfield who have
been forced to work off the farm as well to keep it alive. They were
excited when their cheque arrived on April 26. However, it was in the
amount of $304. They, too, were expecting thousands.
Can the minister please
explain how $304 will save the Newton farm?
Hon. Andy Mitchell
(Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we could
trot out all the particular examples the hon. member wants, but again,
what he is trying to do is to set the stage on something that is not a
reality.
The fact is that through
our CAIS program we have already provided $1.6 billion to Canadian
producers. Through the farm income program we are providing close to $1
billion to Canadian producers.
The hon. member is
correct, and all members in the House who understand agriculture know the
serious concerns that our producers have. We are taking serious steps to
assist them. We are not trying to score cheap political points.
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