Good afternoon. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak to you about the pork situation in Quebec. I would like to take a few moments to describe the situation that several farms in Quebec currently find themselves in.
Like their Canadian counterparts, Quebec pork producers are experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Months are going by and the situation is not getting any better. The strength of the Canadian dollar compared to the American dollar, coupled with an over-supply of hogs in the United States and a lack of slaughter capacity in Quebec is making the lives of producers impossible.
Over the past year, three slaughter houses have either ceased their operations or closed their doors. Producers have had to keep their hogs on the farm for longer, with all the consequences that this entails: extra feed, lower pork prices, not to mention the soaring costs of inputs. Approximately 40% of producers can no longer meet their payments. Several have had to borrow money in order to survive. We're talking about the survival of family businesses that are the livelihood of one or two families on each farm. Several of them are in danger of declaring bankruptcy. The situation has become unbearable. We have run out of resources and we have run out of breath.
Despite these very difficult circumstances, producers have found the courage to muster their energy to find solutions. They have formed a working group with a view to examining all possible solutions. The crisis in the pork sector in Quebec affects the producers, of course, but it also affects all stakeholders in the pork production chain in Quebec. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agri-Food in Quebec felt it was necessary to appoint an official to examine the task of helping this industry recover. Mr. Guy Coulombe was appointed to undertake this comprehensive task. The goal is to re-examine the Quebec pork industry as a whole. Last week, the working group submitted several ideas to Mr. Coulombe. Mr. Coulombe's work is ongoing as is the work of the working group.
In addition to the federation's mid- and long-term action, we have come here to call upon the federal government to intervene in a critically important situation. Of course, the Quebec Pork Producers' Federation supports the proposals for assistance put forth by the Canadian Pork Council, the CPC. We in Quebec feel that the federal government could go even further in its support and its action. We are counting on you to find some flexibility in your programs in order to act quickly to help Quebec producers.
First, the Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec would like the program proposed by the CPC to be available over a five-year period. I'm talking about the loans. Second, our federation is counting on the federal government to ensure that those loans are interest-free and are backed by the government. Finally, the Quebec pork producers hope that this emergency program will be deployed as of December 2007. We are sounding the alarm. We no longer have the luxury of waiting several days, several weeks or several months. Producers are at the end of their rope and a lack of government action will spell the beginning of the end for them.
The federation also feels that it would be in the interest of Canadian hog producers to ensure regulatory fairness. Currently, hog production regulations vary, depending on whether you are a Canadian producer or a producer exporting to Canada. The same rules do not apply to producers who export their pork to this country. That is another concern of Quebec hog producers.
The whole pork industry in Quebec is currently threatened. We have to act now. Let us keep this industry alive because it employs more that 29,000 individuals and its economic benefits total more than $3 billion. The pork industry has always been the pride of the Quebec economy. Let us not allow the situation to deteriorate even further.
I would like to thank you on my own behalf, as a pork producer in Quebec, and on behalf of the 4,000 other producers I represent. Thank you very much.