Paul Steckle at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee

On February 15th, 2007. See this statement in context.

February 15th, 2007 / 5:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON

I agree with you, Larry. We need to expedite a meeting at some point at a very high level.

I've spoken to Mr. Strahl, I've spoken to Joe, and maybe he's spoken to you about it. Of course I've met with the tobacco industry as well. We have had this before the committee many times over the years. This is the final kick at the can, and I think at this point they want to exit the industry.

We have to bite the bullet, do it. A lot of players need to be partners in this, including the industry itself, but I think we can only do that by having all the players at the same table. We need to do that quickly, because March 1 is the deadline.

See context to find out what was said next.