Finance committee  Not in its completeness yet. We are working on some of the areas where some insurance may lead to that, but in the interim there's nothing that's available off the shelf that would truly compensate our industry for the birds and for the loss of production. It is something we are working towards, but it isn't completely available yet.

Finance committee  If it were five cents, it would be an opportunity that perhaps could be involved in a cost-of-production formula.

Finance committee  Supply management is truly, in my opinion, one of the pillars of economic stability in agriculture. The main reason for that is our ability to get our cost of production from the marketplace. Supply management across the country is...a lot of rural benefits are truly being taken from and given to the income, and the ability for supply management to facilitate back and forth, buying in the community, participating in communities with regard to the spinoff effect, the ability that we put in, the opportunities for us to be involved in everything from sending our children to the rinks to being involved on boards and everything.

Finance committee  Do you mean with regard to an avian influenza?

Finance committee  There are obviously repercussions for industry. But we as an industry are always doing things to the best of our ability to make sure we don't have disease outbreaks. When we have an avian influenza opportunity that shows itself in Canada, it's devastating to our industry. We need assistance in place in case we have to remove our birds entirely, either from a farm or on a mass basis.

Finance committee  If it's in the interest of the public good, which it would be in the case of a vaccine for avian influenza, it would be an opportunity that could be shared federally, provincially, and with the producers

Finance committee  It would be rather difficult, but I could give you a scenario.

Finance committee  I was going to give you an example. For an eradication of approximately two million birds, the cost would be roughly $12.5 million in addition to the Health of Animals cost relative to that, which would be an additional $6 million. So if it were a two-million bird eradication, that would be roughly the total I could give you as an example.

Finance committee  Our whole industry actually shares in a lot of the risk. On farms we are constantly doing programs such as Start Clean-Stay Clean, and we are always looking to ensure that our product goes to consumers on a safe basis, so they have confidence in it. The compensation for avian influenza is not only for farmers' good but also the public good.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. My name is Peter Clarke. I'm an egg producer from Nova Scotia. With me today in the audience is fellow vice-chair Maurice Richard, an egg producer from the province of Quebec. As vice-chairs of the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency--CEMA--we would like to thank the committee for inviting us to present today.

Agriculture committee  There isn't a way of eliminating the threat of avian influenza, because it occurs naturally in migratory birds. It's always going to be out there. It's our industry. Supply management is a business risk program, and through it we can try to mitigate those risks. We have done that and will continue to try to do it that way.

Agriculture committee  The migratory bird process has always been in North America. There's that and the ability of our population to travel more and possibly pick up contamination through clothing or walking through excrement, and so forth. All those are opportunities. Because of more ease of travel, the world's at our feet today.

Agriculture committee  I would confirm that there are a lot of younger people getting into our industry, surprisingly, and we're pleased about that. But you spoke about the cost of getting into agriculture. There's a cost to get into an awful lot of different areas of livelihood today, whether you want to get a McDonald's franchise, a dentistry business, or a doctor's business.

Agriculture committee  I'm not familiar with that, no. You'll have to be more explicit.

Agriculture committee  If you don't mind, on that particular point I cannot stress enough the fact that right now, with whatever is in place, the $8, if that's all there is, is not enough.