These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Experimental Farm Closure
Mr. Bill Casey
(Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the
agriculture science strategy received under access to information last
week says at eight different places that when Nappan and Kentville
experimental farms close, research will be moved to other provinces.
Why did the President of
the Treasury Board tell the House on Friday that there would be no
diminishing of research in Nova Scotia when the plan says that both farms
in Nova Scotia are going to close?
Hon. Andy Mitchell
(Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, there is
no plan to close the Kentville station. As minister, I receive
recommendations all the time from various sources on actions that I may
want to take. We decided not to take that action.
Mr. Bill Casey
(Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it
is not a memo, it is not a notice and it is not a recommendation, because
recommendation number one for Nova Scotia is to close Nappan and step two
is to close Kentville.
The Liberals have already
announced they are closing Nappan. They cannot say it is a memo and they
are not paying any attention to it.
Another answer we always
get is that they say they want to put money into research and not into
facilities, but this document says they are putting $232 million into new
buildings across the country. In Nova Scotia, they are just closing both
farms.
Hon. Andy Mitchell
(Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, let me
make it clear about the approach we are taking in science. We want to
ensure that we put the maximum amount actually on the science and the
least amount on overhead. Over the next while we will engage in a very
public, open and transparent process by which we can determine how we can
take maximum advantage of the investments we are making in science from
this government.
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