Lessons taught should be lessons learned. You applied that principle when you spoke about having the policy. Once we determine what the policy is, we should set our policy here in terms of direction, of what we want to do, and put that in place after the fact.
Because you're here on the beef side, I can't help but go back to what happened in 2003. We learned some lessons there—hopefully—particularly in terms of what the committee did in looking at the beef packer industry. The beef packer industry took the beef issue to extreme extremes. There was profitability at levels never seen before, at the expense of consumers and at the expense of primary producers.
We need to learn the lesson that when we design programs, we don't design them so that the money is to be recalled at a later time or in fact ends up in the pockets of people other than those for whom it was intended. That's what happened with the beef industry. I hope we have learned some lessons there, but I'm not sure we have, because the beef industry itself is displaying to me the kind of habit they have had for a long time.
We built capacity in that three- or four-year period, in order for the industry to take care in the slaughter of their beef in this country. While we had capacity built to almost 100%, we are now supplying that market at about a 70% level or even less, and I think that's a disgrace. I say that to the beef people and I say that to that industry because I think they have betrayed even the best intentions of a government—and it doesn't matter what government. I believe the government did what they felt was best and worked with the industry the best they could.
I think we have some lessons to learn. There is a move—and I know we're not here to talk about the Wheat Board, but I'm using it as an example—to get rid of an agency that has served this country well and has been improved upon over the years. We have given options in the province of Ontario. Those who chose to sell in an open market last summer or late last summer would have sold wheat at about $103 a tonne. Those who sold it to the Wheat Board, where the pool price would apply, are going to get about $180. So there are merits.
I think we need to learn—and this applies to the thing we talked about before—but I'm not sure we have learned lessons. Some of us have been around this table quite a number of times, and we're hearing the same thing. We have too many governments competing in their own little niches, and we have too many farm organizations competing. At the end of the day, we all want to come out waving the white flag, but it doesn't happen very often.
It's time we started moving away from those competitive issues that we develop for ourselves, like interprovincial trade barriers or where some provinces can afford while others can't afford.... We have to get down to a point I've made time and again, but I need to stress it because it may be the last time I go across this country with the ability to say these kinds of things. It's time we put this whole issue of food security purely and simply into the control of one government.
If we believe food security is important to this nation, then we will develop policy to support that. We will deal with those kinds of encumbrances that are put in our way because of other governments, whether it's the Americans or others. We will find ways of dealing with them. But first of all we have to believe in something. If we don't believe in something, we'll just keep on doing the band-aid, ad hoc programming.
How do you feel about that kind of thing? Am I in an area where you don't want to go or don't feel comfortable with, or am I completely lost, forget it, put it away, close the book, and drive on, doing what we've done poorly? Dr. Phil would say, “If it doesn't work, change it”.
