Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's interesting, and I think even Mr. Steckle knows there's a difference between a promise and a commitment. Of course, as everyone is aware, there were lots of promises made prior to the election, particularly by the previous Liberal government. This commitment was kept by Canada's new government, and farmers thank us for that. They know where it came from.
I want to talk about the cooperation, as Mr. Easter said, we had with the cash advance program. It was good to be able to work with members of the committee to make sure this passed through quickly, so that farmers could have access to the improved cash advance system that was so important to them. That has proven to be a good change for farmers, and it gives them access to some credit, which they wouldn't have had otherwise.
One of the things that's important to many of us is that production insurance needs to be solid. Some of the provinces seem to have very good programs right now; others don't have programs that are as steady. Alberta is a neighbour of ours, and when I talk to farmers there, they're very happy with the crop insurance program with the enhancements the provincial government brought forward.
Manitoba seems to be happy with their program as well, for the most part. It's frustrating to be in the middle of the two provinces with a program that just does not work. We hear this constantly from farmers.
Most of us on the agriculture committee would like to see production insurance programs that work for farmers, because so many of them are directly affected.
The Farm Improvement and Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act was a program the Liberals were going to shut down a couple of years ago, and there was enough of an outcry about it. It wasn't a big program, but there were a number of people accessing it.