Thank you for the interesting question.
I want to be simple and I want to be clear. The future can be bright or it can be pessimistic. We can either maintain our industry, we can rebuild and move forward, or we can spin ourselves into a period of decline. I think those are the two choices.
The game is very tough right now, but with a level playing field and the appropriate reaction, we probably can compete. It's not going to be as much fun as it was in the past ten years, but we have to respond, and we have to make some strategic decisions.
Canada has about 22% of the world pork trade. The world pork trade is increasing, not decreasing. Our domestic consumption is not increasing. So if we want to protect the livelihoods and the rural communities out there, I think we need to respond. You've heard a number of the different aspects from a Pork Council perspective and a producer perspective. We are still examining some other issues, what it means. We know it requires regulatory reform. We know it involves international marketing. We know it involves reducing input costs wherever we can, restructuring and becoming more efficient.
When you look at Canada as a whole, we're one of those sectors that is resource rich. We're export dependent, not unlike beef, not unlike grains and oilseeds, not unlike softwood lumber, not unlike a number of others. We're all struggling and reacting to the currency, and we all need to make the adjustments we need to do. Maybe 75% of the response needs to be from us, industry, but I think government is a portion of the solution.