"MARTIN NEGLECTS BEEF PRODUCERS"

February 3, 2004

Ottawa - Yesterday, a visibly irate Jay Hill, Member of Parliament for Prince George - Peace River, was the first Opposition M.P. to rise in the House of Commons in response to the Speech from the Throne. He made the following comments:

" I listened with great interest to [ the Liberal MP's] remarks. I note that he said, "We know who we are. People who need help will get help". Those were direct quotes from his speech.
Western beef producers know they need help and they know who they are. I wonder if the government knows who they are because when I looked through this pathetic Speech from the Throne, it said:

The Government is dedicated to Canada's farm economy and to taking the steps necessary to safeguard access to international markets and to ensure that farmers are not left to bear alone the consequences of circumstances beyond their control...

The government has just had another three months of holiday and this is the best it could come up with… when farmers in Prince George - Peace River and farmers across western Canada are hurting. Where is the help it promised? How can the Liberals sleep at night?"
Outside the House of Commons, Hill later added, "this so - called "new" Liberal government is picking up exactly where the old one left off… completely ignoring the crisis in Canada's beef industry and the plight of farm families!"

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