Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all of you for being here today.
I want to touch on a couple of things that have been discussed a little bit, but I would like a little more detail.
First of all, Mr. Toews, being a beef farmer, I know back with the BSE, when we were short of slaughter capacity—which Mr. Steckle touched on—I made the comment at the time that if we want the government to help increase slaughter capacity, which of course I was all in favour of, and I made the statement many times here at the committee and at home, we as producers have to stay loyal. Of course, I knew what would happen the minute higher prices were offered: we'd go to it. That's human nature. It's in all of us.
The industry has a responsibility here, and government as well, but it goes against my grain as a taxpayer, whether I'm a beef farmer or not, to keep going back to the well, to the government, to say, basically, every time we get in trouble, “Let's get them in there and we'll build up the capacity.”
Is there an easy answer to how we get the industry involved, to try to stay a little bit more loyal, to keep the packing facilities going? Government has a role as well, I know, but what could the industry do?