Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, I have a brief statement for the House.

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House today to acknowledge the determination and hard work of the Red River Valley farmers. At the height of the flood, fully 610,000 acres of prime Red River Valley farmland were under several feet of water. As of this morning, my staff reported to me that over 580,000 acres of this land have been seeded with only between 22,000 and 29,000 acres remaining. More importantly, my officials estimate that, God willing and with several more days of good weather, as few as 5,000 acres may be left unseeded for this crop year, which is mostly pockets of land in low-lying areas.

Madam Speaker, let me underline and repeat that. In other words, as much as 99 percent of the valley could be seeded this year.

Madam Speaker, I urge this House to join with me in applauding the determination and resourcefulness of the Red River Valley farmers who, for the second year in a row, have managed to defeat the Red Sea, and, in particular this year, the flood of the century.

Madam Speaker, while I am obviously elated with the tremendous progress in the Red River Valley, I must also make mention that there is need for rain in the westerly portion of the province. I am also aware that there are difficulties in other parts of the province, including the constituency of my critic from the opposition, the honourable member for Swan River (Ms. Wowchuk).

It is my sincere hope that all the producers of this province will receive the weather they need in the hope of a bountiful harvest this fall.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): I, too, would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the determination and the hard work of the farmers in the Red River Valley, but also all farmers in this province who worked very hard to ensure that and face the challenges of the elements of the weather, whether it be flood or drought or forest fires or whatever keeps them, but to ensure that we have a bountiful food supply in this province.

It is very encouraging to know that the majority of the land will be seeded, close to 99 percent. I commend those farmers. I guess we should, as the minister said, also thank the good Lord for blessing us with the weather that we need to meet those challenges, but we also have to remember that there are others who are out there, even if it is only 1 percent of the farmers. They are facing very serious challenges. Many of them will not be able to seed their land and many of them have lost their income this year, along with having lost their homes.

Our hearts go out to those people who are facing those challenges and hope that in the near future they too will be able to reap the benefits of being able to seed their crops. It has been a very challenging time to face the flood of the century and, as I say, farmers throughout the province and throughout the country face many challenges.

I guess I want to say, Madam Speaker, that as well as commending the farmers and the many volunteers who worked to ensure that the people could adjust to the flood, I am disappointed that the two levels of government have not been able to work together. It is disappointing to hear a province's election promise of millions of dollars that are going to come in from the federal government and then not have the two levels of government able to work some solution out.

I think that is unfortunate, to hear that there is money coming and then have it come as election promises, and then have all of these farmers who are still facing challenges. What we have to look at is not only promises for the Red River Valley. We have to look at long-term solutions throughout the province when we face challenges for any disaster that faces farming communities. So I would like to extend my best wishes to those people who are still facing challenges and hope that they can do well in this year as well.

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