“I want the government to spend more money on agriculture research centers. The government should not have closed seven research centers, because that reduces our ability to innovate in agriculture. The Minister of Agriculture should reverse his decision.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
Agriculture and Agri-Food
The Conservatives criticized the government for underinvesting in agricultural research and planning to close research centres, while the Liberals defended their record and promised upcoming good news for the sector. The debate featured some political theatrics and jabs but little substance on the future of Canadian agriculture.
“I'm filling time with a long list of groups we work with. We have research centers. We've been doing research for a long time. We'll keep doing research. We're working with lots of universities and provinces. I won't answer whether we'll reopen those seven closed research centers. I just want to say we'll keep doing research.”
“You Liberals waste billions on your pet projects. But you won't spend a tiny fraction of that on research centers that help farmers and Canada's food security. Closing these centers to save 23 million is a bad choice. I want you to keep them open. Why do you always let down farmers?”
“I'm going to ignore your specific complaint about closing research centers. Instead, here's a list of other things the government is doing for agriculture. We're just getting started helping farmers!”