These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Immediate Disaster Relief Needed
Mrs.
Diane Finley (Haldimand—Norfolk, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the U.S. border
has been closed to Canadian livestock for 526 days. Producers now more
than ever need immediate disaster relief. Currently the Canadian
agricultural income stabilization program requires producers to pay in
large deposits just to trigger payouts. This is at a time when producers
can least afford it.
When will the minister commit to getting rid of the onerous cash deposit
requirement?
Hon. Andy Mitchell (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, what we have indicated is a
willingness to sit down with the industry and have a discussion about
exactly how CAIS should be restructured, if it should be.
I should make the point that the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has
made it clear that we should engage in this annual review. That process is
being put in place. I made the commitment to them that as we review this,
if there are alternative and better ways to make that particular program
work, I am quite willing to listen to them and work at putting them in
place.
Mrs. Diane Finley (Haldimand—Norfolk, CPC): Mr. Speaker, when?
Producers who have applied for the CAIS program are asking the Liberal
government to show them the money. Many are still waiting for their cash
advances for 2003.
I ask the agriculture minister, why is he failing farmers by not ensuring
that desperate producers who have applied already for the CAIS program
receive the cash they need right away?
Hon. Andy Mitchell (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, not only is money flowing to producers under the CAIS
program, but on September 10 we instituted a special CAIS program advance
for the beef producers. I am pleased to report that to date, 4,500 of
those producers have taken up the offer. We are in the process of ensuring
that they have the cash and the necessary liquidity in addition to the
restructuring measures that we took on September 10 that will allow our
industry to be profitable with or without a border opening.
Ms. Denise Poirier-Rivard (Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, there is a crisis in agriculture, especially among the farmers
who are victims of the mad cow crisis. They are exasperated by the
government's inability to defend their interests. Quebec's producers have
been hit twice: they are the victims of one diseased cow found in Alberta
and they are receiving ridiculous prices and subsidies for their cull.
Since we know that one farmer received as little as 7¢ for an animal,
what is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food waiting for before he
reveals a sensible plan to come to the aid not only of beef cattle
producers but to farmers who produce cull cattle in Quebec?
[English]
Hon. Andy Mitchell (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, there are two significant things that need to be done to
address that particular problem.
First is the need to build more capacity. In our announcement of September
10 we are providing initiatives by the federal government to increase that
capacity.
In addition, the hon. member and I have had a chance to talk about this.
We are in discussions with a number of organizations, including the
province of Quebec--and this would also apply to other dairy areas--on
exactly how to deal with the cull cow issue in the short term. We will
deal with increased capacity in the long term, but we are also having
discussions about what to do in the short term.
|
