I would definitely agree that we need to be prepared for the disaster. If avian influenza hits Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, central Ontario, or wherever, a lot of those producers don't have the time to wait, even if they are covered under CAIS, production insurance, or whatever. Their farms are at risk the day the press release comes out.
Perhaps a way to decide about the cost sharing, who will participate and at what level, would be to set up a disaster relief catastrophe fund, administered solely by the federal government, so that you would have that flexibility and responsiveness to the problem.