HANSARD

November 18, 2009

ORAL QUESTION
ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: My question is to the Minister of Agriculture. In the 2008-09 estimates, $277 million was allocated for business risk management, which is, of course, the safety net for our farmers. But according to the public accounts on page 2-14, some time after that funding was publicly announced with great fanfare, over $82 million was quietly taken out of that fund. Why did you cut the money out of the support for our farmers?

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: Minister, I know you're a little out of touch with the farmers in Ontario. While you were telling farmers across the province that there was nothing you could do, that all the money had been spent, hog farmers, fruit and vegetable farmers and cattle farmers were struggling. They are losing their farms, and you don't seem to care. They didn't fit the program, so we used the money somewhere else. We didn't spend $82 million that was set aside to help these farmers; it wasn't spent for that purpose.
Minister, will you commit to using that $82 million to help the struggling farmers who are struggling today?