I'm a proud member of the board of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, and the invitation is always open to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to be a member of that. The Canadian Pork Council is a member, and is always in some difficult discussions, because it is a very difficult time to have discussions or a group.
I wanted to make a comment on the talk about the NISA-like program. There's obviously disagreement on whether that's good or bad, but there was reasoning for that request. There was a lot of discussion on whether it's the way to go or not, but there is almost no predictability with the current program. There is some degree of predictability when you actually have some money in the bank. It also gives the government an opportunity to provide funding in years when it may not trigger, so that money can actually be banked up. It's actually a tool for the government to put some money away.
The problem with margin-based programs is that they work fine if you're in an industry that has sharp ups and downs. When you have some years of profit, they trigger very well. The CAIS program should work in the hog industry, for instance, because it's the nature of that business. In the grain business, especially once you have a five- or six-year period of low production or low grain prices and incomes, you pay for that for years and years. That's exactly what we've just come through. There are no reference margins to work with.
We're constantly looking for ways to improve it. We've had the National Safety Nets Advisory Committee, which I have sat on, and we have tried and tried for years. I'm not sure where that is going or if there is going to be some consultation, but as an industry we are very eager to work on trying to get a business risk management program that works and meets the needs of everyone at this table.