Ottawa – During the agriculture debate in the House of Commons Monday, initiated by the Reform Party, Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament for Yorkton – Melville and Official Opposition Agriculture Critic, appealed to the government to help communicate the farm income crisis to the people in the cities. "We need the support of all Canadians and that will only come as we communicate the importance of agriculture to everyone in the country. Every time you eat don’t just thank God, thank a farmer. That message needs to get out to those who are not directly connected with families on the farm," Breitkreuz emphasized.

As part of an Official Opposition supply day motion, Breitkreuz informed the government how farm families are being seriously affected by the farm income crisis. "Before we can get through to all Canadians we must have our government see the faces of real farmers behind the cold hard statistics that describe the deplorable state of affairs on our family farms. My speech on Monday tried to show those faces to this government," said Breitkreuz.

Breitkreuz offered a number of solutions to the Liberals to help families through this crisis. "The agriculture sector has been mismanaged by different governments for over 30 years. There needs to be both short-term and long-term solutions to the farm income crisis and right now the federal Liberals have done little to address either. In the short term, the AIDA program has to be overhauled so that more farmers qualify for assistance and more funds are put into the hands of producers immediately. In the long-term, this government has to reduce taxes on inputs, reduce government user fees on programs such as the Canadian Grain Commission, work harder on trying to eliminate foreign subsidies, improve the grain transportation system and give producers the opportunity to process and market their own products. In fact, all Canadians would benefit from a tax reduction," said Breitkreuz.

"October 31, 1999 is a deadline looming for many producers who will have to pay the bills for putting in this years’ crop. The government cannot wait until November or December to analyze the AIDA program and make changes to it. What are we waiting for? It is time this government realized the importance of agriculture to this country and started implementing plans to help farmers now and in the future," concluded Breitkreuz.

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