In an ideal world, we would not need subsidies and income support. However, we do not live in an ideal world. There is a crisis in the hog sector. There was another crisis after the discovery of mad cow disease a few years ago. Such events are beyond the control of our producers. However, as legislators, as a government, as parliamentarians, we must keep that in mind. We cannot say that it will not happen again or hope that it has been eradicated. We must not lose sight of reality.
Canada has initiated discussions with the European Union in order to enter into a free trade agreement. Given that you are a plant expert, Professor Fowler, you may have an interest in genetically modified organisms. In Europe, GMOs are prohibited; in Canada, they are not. With regard to competitiveness, in these free trade talks will we have difficulty introducing some of our products on European markets without some alignment or harmonization? I do not believe we will be able to convince them to open their markets to GMOs.
What can be done about this specifically in these talks. Do you have an opinion on that?