Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks, folks, for coming.
Dr. Klein, you said in your remarks that whether it's the policy in the U.S. or the policy in Canada, a big blow has been dealt to beef and hogs. I might mention to you that we did have an emergency debate in the House of Commons last night. I guess the tragic and sad commentary on it is that the government had an opportunity to respond and act and has failed to do so, has absolutely failed to do so as of yet. Having reviewed some of the remarks made last night in the debate, I can only say that I see the government's action basically as cruel and unusual punishment on the beef and hog industry.
It really doesn't matter whether it's a U.S. subsidy or a Canadian subsidy; here we are talking about subsidies at the WTO, but for some reason I've been sitting here thinking that a subsidy to an auxiliary industry that is also having the impact of pushing costs up is also having consequences for the farming industry.
That's what we're seeing with ethanol and biodiesel. We support the ethanol and biodiesel policies; however, if governments, either foreign or domestic, are causing unusual circumstances and negative impacts on an industry, I do think the government has a responsibility to act. So perhaps I can get you to comment on that.
Second, at the political level, I think at the national level, we tend to combine the two, ethanol and biodiesel. There are pros and cons to both. I personally think our greatest opportunity is in biodiesel, but is it a problem? There's no question, if you look at Minnesota, that the ethanol industry has really positively impacted on rural development thus far.
What are your thoughts on this? Instead of combining the two, maybe we should be emphasizing one more than the other.
My view with regard to the canola industry--and I could be wrong on this--is that our going into biodiesel production with canola could in fact increase the source of feed supply for the livestock and hog industry because there will be more bio-product than would otherwise be the case. Now, I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I see Dr. Klein shaking his head.
Give me your thoughts on those comments.