November 5, 2004
Liberal government running out of excuses
By Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. - November 5, 2004
Yet another month has gone by with virtually no movement from the Liberal government to solve the BSE crisis. While Conservative Members of Parliament continue to raise this issue daily in Question Period, the government continues to be focussed on covering up scandals and fiscal mismanagement.
The Liberals’ budget surplus has been a running joke among Canadians for years. Every year, at budget time, the Liberal government says it doesn’t have the money to provide Canadians with adequate health care or for tax cuts, yet every year it is able to give us the “good news” of a surplus far beyond even the finance minister’s expectations. This year the joke hit an all-time low. What was projected to be a $1.9 billion surplus ballooned to just the opposite at a whopping $9.1 billion. While debt reduction is important to the viability of the country, paying down the debt should be worked into the budget. Once that budgeted amount has been paid, the leftover money should be returned to the payee: the Canadian taxpayer. What the Liberals seem to forget is that the surplus is there only because Canadians are forced to pay into it, and among those paying Canadians are the very farm families struggling to put food on the table.
On October 28th, 2004, the Liberal government reported that the national Repositioning the Livestock Industry Strategy, announced on September 10th, had finally been fully implemented. Some producers have been able to benefit marginally from programs within the strategy, but that money is serving as only a band-aid measure within the industry. It has been almost a year since the Conservative Party came forward with a plan to market Canadian beef to countries beyond the United States, and it has taken until now for the Liberal government to act on that strategy. The Liberals say the peril of the beef industry is a priority, yet Members of Parliament from across the country just held an Emergency Debate in Parliament to bring attention to the severity of the crisis. At that debate, I was able to convey how this crisis is reaching far beyond our cattle producers and is hurting entire communities, both rural and urban. Furthermore, the severe crop damage resulting from the August 20th frost and the fact that some 10-15 per cent of the crop has yet to be harvested in some areas of the province, greatly compounds the crisis. It is estimated that the Canadian beef industry has taken a $2 billion hit since May 20th, 2003. That loss is not only to the beef industry, it is also to the Canadian economy.
Despite the harsh realities faced everyday by our farmers, this Liberal government has yet to understand the urgency to find a solution. It is instead consumed in dodging questions regarding what Prime Minister Martin’s Office knew during the sponsorship program years and pushing through legislation to decriminalize marijuana – this while other countries are able to solve their beef trade disputes. It took just three days for the United States to reach an agreement with Japan to permit the resumption of the beef trade. Canada, however, has no such agreement with the Asian country, despite a trip to Japan by our Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell. Why?
We are wasting time and money because the Liberal government is refusing to apply the pressure necessary to help our cattle industry. The American agreement with Japan came just nine days before the United States’ presidential election, yet the Liberals said Canada was unable to negotiate with the Americans during their election campaign. Why can one country negotiate an agreement, while another has to sit on the sidelines and wait? What possible excuse can this government conjure up now that the American election day has passed?
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