While I congratulate the minister for trying to open up markets, the fact of the matter is that in the hog industry, according to the Canadian Pork Council president, who testified at committee last year, Canada's exports have gone down 50% to 60% and American imports to Canada have increased 25%. Because of a lack of competitive policy Canadians are now seeing more American pork on grocery store shelves. That is not creating jobs in Canada nor an economy in this country, and it is as a result of a lack of competitive farm policy.

    Let me turn to a commentary by the president of the Ontario federation, Betty Jean Crews. She hits the issue right in the head. In the commentary she wrote:

Partners in the Ontario agriculture sustainability coalition find themselves up against a brick wall when they turn for action to Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Hon. Gerry Ritz. Ontario farmers are rapidly losing equity and their farm businesses because today's risk management programs do not work.

    She went on:

The situation is bleak on Ontario farms and the Minister has to understand that there will be serious and irreparable damage to Ontario's rural economy as a result.

    That was the commentary from the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. I think one can find a similar situation across the country; I know one certainly can in Atlantic Canada, where one can see Canada is losing its hog industry. Plants are starting to shut down. Canada is losing its beef industry: there is only one federally inspected beef slaughter plant left. Potato producers are finding their contracts cut back. Those are all jobs and that is all economy. The reason that our agricultural producers are in trouble is because other countries support their producers. They are not in a philosophical situation, which the minister seems to be in, that if one would leave it up to trade and competitiveness, everything will be fine eventually.

    Canadians are starting to lose our food sovereignty and security. On that point I could get into a long rendition in terms of how the minister has failed to protect food security by not implementing the Weatherill report. That is still not implemented, and Canadians are seeing imported products come into Canada, which do not have to meet either the same growing conditions or the same standards Canadian products have to meet.

    Let me turn back to Betty Jean Crews and what she concluded a little further in her commentary. She wrote:

Farm leaders within the OASC group predict that thousands of Ontario farmers will exit agriculture each year. That will be a major loss of jobs in the agri-food sector as agricultural production disappears because of the failure of government to properly invest in agriculture.

    That is the dilemma. Here we are today having a debate on the recovery, on the need for jobs, economy. One of the greatest generators of jobs and economy is the agriculture sector. As the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture wrote, farmers will exit agriculture each year and there will be a major loss of jobs in the agri-food sector as agriculture production disappears.

    Canada is and can continue to be the bread basket for the world. Canada has a tremendous diversified climate and production. The minister is sticking to a one-policy-fits-all: it is not going to work.