Given the strength of that recommendation in the report, I don't see how it couldn't happen, quite frankly. That same sentiment was what brought about the creation of CFIA, for those of us who were around. I know there are several at the table who will remember all that.
Departments, they're territorial by nature. They spent over a decade trying to work out the responsibilities of both communication and operations with respect to food safety, leading up to the creation of CFIA. It's because they could not work it out that they finally decided to create an agency and bring them all under one tent.
So that sort of human nature aspect to it has not changed, not from the perspective of the representatives who watch this stuff take place. I know there was a protocol in place that all the parties were supposed to become aware of and follow. I'm as aware of the fact as much as a lot of people that this simply wasn't followed in this case. If it had been, some of these glitches, in terms of apparent missing leadership, might not have happened.
Again, a lot of good work comes about following these types of crises, but it has to be followed up on. Obviously, the protocol that came about because of previous situations never was given the full life it deserved when the crisis happened. What would be a shame is if we just kept creating more of these animals without ever actually bringing them to life and making sure everybody's aware of what to do and how to follow them, and who, in fact, has the responsibility.
I think the recommendations in the report are pretty clear on the need for leadership and who takes the lead role in each situation, but I think this might have been serious enough that the players may get pretty serious about following it, and I certainly hope they do. I'll tell you, the workers in the field need to know that. As the report indicates, the people in the field level get really busy when this stuff happens--they know their job--and then they start looking for direction. If it's not there, you've got big problems. So I hope that never happens again.