I'm of the view that some of our enforcement mechanisms perhaps don't go far enough. I'm rather right-wing on some of this stuff, but some of the issues.... I think the largest fine that I'm aware of for people fraudulently repackaging product was about $5,000. Well, ostensibly $5,000 may be a drop in the bucket.
Every importer of fresh fruits and vegetables must be either licensed with CFIA or a member of the Dispute Resolution Corporation. Mr. Easter would know a little bit from our discussions on the DRC. Clearly there's a vehicle there and an enforcement tool. The single, most threatening thing you can do to anyone is take away their right to do business--or, as I would say, take away their right to defraud the public.
So I think there are things out there. Whether we have the strong legislative base that allows us to do that...and maybe that's one of the things we need to do.
On the whole labelling issue, I understand the various and sundry instances. This is a really complicated issue. I think packaging and labelling legislation goes back to the early seventies. It was designed when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, when it was part of Agriculture Canada, was dealing with basically quality-type issues. We've added food safety to their mandate. We've added all of these other wonderful things that have skyrocketed. Look at the volume of global trade. They're trying to manage all that.
I think we have to be very cognizant, as we move forward, of what we're asking for from a regulatory agency and their ability to do it. I see it not just with this issue but with a lot of things in this town. Policy that is intended for public benefit but that can't be properly enforced is not good policy.