Madam Speaker, I appreciate the parliamentary secretary's remarks, but somehow I find this a little hard to believe.
I realize there are exceptions and the border will not be fully opened by March, but its being closed for basically two years is somehow considered to be a success by the government. The packing industry in the United States was lobbying on our side. The mainstream beef-producing organizations were lobbying on our side. We had powerful allies down there who in many ways did considerably more than the Liberal government did to lobby on behalf of Canadian cattle. It is a disgrace that the government was not as effective as they were.
I cannot understand how the government considers a two year border closure as some sort of major success. If we had had a proper relationship and open channels instead of members on that side antagonizing the American political establishment, we would have had this issue solved much earlier.
Again I ask the minister how he considers this long period of border closure to be a success.