I think it's essential to preserve supply management. Here we're talking about tools that provide producers with income security and cost government nothing. I'll give you an example. In the maple syrup sector, there were collective marketing tools in the early 1990s. Producers were in bankruptcy because there were no more maple syrup buyers. The federal government had to invest $23 million in the industry. In 2000, we went through a similar crisis. Even though the early payments system existed, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada had to invest several millions of dollars to assist producers who were unable to make their early payments. La Financière agricole du Québec also invested $22 million and granted producers lines of credit. It took five years to close that file.
Today we have collective marketing and a system that works well. The question is whether individual rights take precedence over collective rights. We could also ask our government whether, in its view, the individual right takes precedence over the collective right to govern and regulate. I must say that, as a citizen, I don't always agree on the regulations that are put into effect, but I'm forced to deal with them, since they have been passed by the government. The same is true in the case of all the government orders that enforce regulations, even my municipality.
I hope we'll be able to continue living in a Canadian society where the collective right, which makes it possible to regulate, is slightly stronger than the individual right. Otherwise I really wonder where all this will lead us.