Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The government has been and will continue to work with provincial and territorial farmers and stakeholders to ensure that the damage they suffer is dealt with and treated fairly. I have no specific answer to the question of compensation, but no doubt the government and its provincial counterparts will be seized with this issue.

[Translation]

Hon. Paula Simons: Honourable senators, my question is for the government representative. As Senator Plett rightly noted yesterday, farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are just now beginning to reckon with the full impact of this month’s devastating flooding on their operations. I am afraid to say the weather forecast for the next few days shows more heavy rain ahead.

In the meantime, grain farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan are facing their own economic challenges, because rail closures and slowdowns have led to bottlenecks and congestion. Prairie farmers face the prospect of significant ongoing delays in getting products like wheat, canola, oats and lentils to market. It’s a particular problem, because they don’t get paid until delivery. Can you tell us what financial supports your government can deliver to farmers in the face of this crisis?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question today is again for the government leader. I hope this will not be answered by saying that one of the reasons for the farmers’ problems is climate change. That’s the answer we got yesterday.

My question for the government leader yesterday concerned our farmers in British Columbia. Today I have a matter of importance to farmers on the East Coast, specifically potato farmers on Prince Edward Island. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has signed an order banning the export of all fresh potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the United States, related to the discovery of potato wart on two farms last month. Premier Dennis King said this ban is devastating for his province. This ban was made with no consultation from the province and contained no mention of compensation for farmers, no plan to support the industry and its workers, no plan to deal with the existing stock already in storage and no date for when market access will resume.

Leader, what will the Trudeau government do to assist potato farmers in Prince Edward Island and all those whose jobs are impacted by the export ban? How long will they have to wait for help?

Senator Plett: Leader, you just finished us telling us what the problem is. I told this chamber what the problem is. You have told us what the President of the United States has said and that our Prime Minister wants to cooperate with the President of the United States. That’s not much consolation for the fine farmers of Prince Edward Island. A working group has been started. We have more working groups than they have potatoes in Prince Edward Island.

On Monday, Premier King quoted Minister Bibeau as saying that the decision to stop export of Prince Edward Island potatoes to the U.S. was made “to appease a trading partner,” which you just confirmed. That’s a remarkable admission, leader, especially considering that the Prime Minister finally got to meet with President Biden last week. Instead of fixing our trade disputes with the United States on agriculture, softwood lumber, pipelines, electric vehicles and “buy American” policies, the situation is now arguably worse. Yesterday, the U.S. doubled our softwood lumber tariffs, and now Prince Edward Island is banned from exporting its fresh potatoes.

Leader, how long does the Trudeau government intend to leave its export ban in place? What specifically, aside from a working group, are you doing now to rectify this situation with the United States on Prince Edward Island farmers?