House of Commons Debates Friday,
October 22, 2005 Unedited copy - not official until printed in Hansard * * * Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the northern portion of my riding was hit hard with 17 inches of rain since August 23, just as grain producers were preparing to harvest. The result is a disaster. This is the third year in a row that farmers have been hit hard, first by drought, then by frost and now by flooding. Grain producers are having creditors pressing them hard for payment. Government support programs are not working. Many farmers have not even received their 2000 CAIS payment. My question is, what is acceptable waiting time for CAIS payments? Hon. Wayne
Easter (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
(Rural Development), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we recognize very seriously
the concerns from the farm community because of their income situation
over the last number of years. The CAIS Program is in fact there for producers.
There is the production insurance program as well. The minister of agriculture
moved very quickly in March in conjunction with other members of the Government
of Canada to put out the $1 billion program to assist farmers to get a
crop in the ground. We will be depending on production insurance and CAIS
to assist them this fall, as well as looking at other measures. We are
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