I don't want to cut you off, Mr. Stewart, but I do want to get another question in.
In general--and this is a problem in these low-interest times--I know regular mortgage consumers are not getting the benefits of the low interest that they should. I'm wondering if you can answer this in the banking sector on farm mortgages and loans. What's happened is that interest rates have come down. The spread between Bank of Canada prime and lending or bank prime has increased. This is what we're seeing in the general mortgage area. Even though interest rates have come down, they have not come down to the consumer as much as they have come down generally. Is it the same thing in the agricultural loans?
We have heard at this committee--and it's a competitiveness study--that one of our biggest problems is that farmers can be competitive, but what we need is competitive policy. You know the industry that's in crisis right now as well as we do, I imagine, because you're looking at the figures. The hog industry and the Canada Pork Council have asked for an ad hoc payment of $800 million, $30 a hog, based on last year's number. We believe the government should be coming out with it. It's what was done in the beef industry when they were in trouble.
The industry is telling us they can't survive without a substantial infusion of cash. They're tapped out in loans, as you well know. Where do you see this hog industry going if the government doesn't step up to the plate and provide funding that will at least make us competitive with the United States?