I agree with Mr. Easter. These solutions should have been brought to the table yesterday so that you could have already received the initial amounts announced. We have not made any headway. As I see it, you did your job. You represent your producers very well. You came before the committee, you made your representations, and you have written letters to thePrime Minister. There is not much that you have not done, other than stepping up your protests. That too may happen.
I also feel that the committee has done its job as well. We have listened to your concerns and we have produced a report and made recommendations, which you have praised, either through a press release, or verbally, through Mr. Shlegel's testimony. Some solutions are possible . The problem has not gone away, but ultimately, I sense that the message is not getting through. Unfortunately, decisions are made here, at the government level.
Yesterday, during Question Period, a Conservative member put a question to the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Mr. Paradis, who is not the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food, although it would seem there are attempts to pass himself off as such in Quebec. Mr. Paradis stated that the government had allocated $76 million to deal with the porcine circovirus, and had earmarked an additional $1 billion for livestock production loans. He informed us that he had met with staff in the office of France's Minister of Agriculture and had conveyed to them his disappointment with Europe's decision to subsidize exports of pork products. He also stated that the Conservatives were stepping in to help the hog industry. To listen to Mr. Paradis, the Member for Mégantic—L'Érable, you would think that all of the problems plaguing the hog industry have been resolved.
Mr. Schlegel and Mr. Moffett, I would like to get your take on the statements made yesterday in the House of Commons.