Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good day ladies and gentlemen.
Last winter, Radio-Canada broadcast a show called Enquête—this is probably not the same show that Mr. Easter was talking about—on animal transportation and related problems. According to this show, of the 600 million animal slaughtered in Canada last year, over two million died during transportation. Of course, these kinds of shows always focus on the more lurid details and problems. I am not saying that we must not condemn this situation, but the fact remains that 598 million animals were alive upon arrival. So we have to put these figures into perspective.
Whatever the case may be, I am pleased to note that you are looking at this issue and making amendments in order to ensure the greatest possible respect for animal welfare. Everyone wants this, of course. Farmers don't want to hurt their animals, on the contrary. They make their living off those animals.
Perhaps some things need to be changed in the trucking industry. You talked about the number of hours in transportation, which was something that was also reported in the Enquête show. Current regulations allow hogs to be transported by truck for 36 consecutive hours and 52 hours for livestock and ruminants.
Mr. Mayers, you seem to be saying that these figures will not change and that's really not what we should be looking at. Could you tell me why exactly? Did I understand correctly what you said?