The minister promised during the last election that he would allow agro-flexibility to work but he is denying agro-flexibility for the business risk program in Ontario or ASRA in Quebec. Farmers are demanding that. The Ontario government came on stream. Why is the federal minister not coming on stream so that the safety net system works the way that it was intended and has a good economic bottom line for primary producers?

    Some simple things could be done to assist the farming community. As I already mentioned, one would be assistance for specified risk material to allow our processing plants to be competitive and allow them to pay higher prices to Canadian producers in the beef industry.

    Coming up with a safety net system would change the viability test for hog and beef producers and allow the reference margin to change. Some $900 million of that safety net money was not spent last year. Less money was spent last year because it could not be triggered as a result of the formula.

    The cattle and hog industry has asked for that formula to change. It meets with the trade agreements. It is not a violation of the trade agreements. That money could have gone out to primary producers' hands and contributed to their economic security as an industry.

    There are other things that could be done such as eliminating some of the cost recovery in the potato and cash crop industry. That is seen as a food safety issue in the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the government seems to see it as a cash cow.

    The Farm Credit Corporation, which was originally set up to provide funding to primary producers and enhance and develop the industry, now seems to be operating just like another bank. What was its profit last? I believe its profit was somewhere over $200 million. With a profit of $200 million the corporation should be making two or three or losing two or three and ensuring that the best interest rates, the best write-downs, whatever it may be, are put in place so farmers are kept on the land. It should not be operating like another bank and just selling the industry down the drain.

    There are a number of things that the government could be doing but it has failed to do them.

    Hog prices in the United States are expected to show some improvement over the next year, but that strength is not likely to be felt in Canada partly because of foreign exchange rates that will continue to hamper our industry.

    The livestock industry in the middle of our agricultural community is so important. It provides a market for Canadian grains and Canadian corn. It provides output in terms of a processing product and getting that product out to consumers. It provides an outlet for organic manure and organic matter in our soil. It is such an important industry and yet the Conservative government is idly sitting by and just seemingly letting the industry go down the drain. This debate today is about the tentativeness of our recovery.

    As the article in the Globe and Mail said, we have to be prepared for these storm clouds ahead. At the primary production level of our agricultural industry, these storm clouds have been around for a number of years.

    The government had the opportunity to put safety nets in place to allow that industry to survive and prosper and be one of the great economic generators of wealth in this country. The government has failed dismally.

    I encourage the government to come through with a competitive agriculture policy in today's budget that would actually put cash in the pockets of primary producers.