I will follow up along the same lines. It appears that a number of governments and organizations, rather than representing specifically producers in the field, really represent lobby groups from the industry and the processing side who consider agriculture and food more as a commodity and look more and more to the opening of markets as the way forward. We are obviously not opposed to opening markets, quite the contrary. We want to find buyers for our products all over the world. However, a philosophy seems to be taking hold where, as Mr. Easter pointed out, trade trumps the interests of the farmers who produce this food.
This leads me to look at what is happening in other sectors. On the international scene, when negotiations took place regarding cultural products, for example, Quebec stood up strongly in favour of cultural diversity, arguing that culture should not be considered as just another commodity. There seems to be a whole trend taking shape. People talk about food sovereignty. The idea is that we can trade food products but that we must ensure that producers can remain on the land they have farmed for many years and feed the people in the surrounding area. This is their primary role.
In your view, is it relevant to start a discussion on the notion that agriculture should not be considered as a mere commodity? Should this be considered?