Agriculture committee  It's very encouraging. We were very happy to get access to the Russian market. We had been working on our export certificates with them for three years, so it's a definite shot in the arm, if you will, for the industry. But I'm going to fall back on my comment that our biggest market is Mexico.

Agriculture committee  First and foremost, we have implemented a national identification program. It's been in place since January 1, 2004, and we're evolving that program to incorporate animal movement and full-scale traceability. It's frustrating for us, when we sit around a table with other commodity groups and representatives indicating that traceability and animal identification will guarantee us market access, because it's not true.

Agriculture committee  We have an application in right now to the AgriFlexibility fund to do a prevalence study. We have a flock certification program in place, and producer participation in that program has been expanding, because if they're on that program, they can actually bring in U.S. genetics, so there has been an increase in producer participation in that program.

Agriculture committee  It's a growing support, because they recognize that they're going to have to participate if they're going to want to trade. As I indicated, we can now bring U.S. genetics, live animals from the U.S., into Canada if a Canadian producer is on that flocks certification program, but we still can't export.

Agriculture committee  I know. I'm sorry, I won't go there. You raise an interesting point, and one of the things we know for sure is that the Toronto area, the GTA, is our largest lamb-consuming population. Our second largest lamb-consuming population is actually Vancouver, and part of the problem is that 60% of our product is slaughtered in Ontario; 90% of it is slaughtered provincially.

Agriculture committee  We have been working on that as well, but every time we try to talk about that, people say “Ah, let's not go there.”

Agriculture committee  I can you get that. It depends on where you are and if you are extensively producing or intensively producing, and how much your land is worth. But we can get that information.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What is the name of the program?

Agriculture committee  No.

Agriculture committee  The short answer is yes. But currently wool prices have been depressed. We send most of our wool to China to be washed and spun. There is a history of a stockpile of wool on the market coming out of Australia. That has depressed prices. We are looking at other ways to market Canadian wool so we can expand its use and its profitability for Canadian producers.

Agriculture committee  That's total sheep producers.

Agriculture committee  I can do it by percentage on production, so the producers are going to be in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.

Agriculture committee  I'm not overly familiar with that program, so I'm not comfortable commenting on it.

Agriculture committee  That would be wonderful.