I was saying that we will probably be producing a lengthy report on competitiveness, with many new recommendations as well, no doubt. The reason why we will have recommendations is, of course, because of the fact that these issues have not been resolved. I do understand that we cannot resolve all of this overnight, but that means that there is a great deal of work to do, both for the government and for Parliament in general, with respect to the future of agriculture.
As Mr. Lemieux just said about my comments, all of your testimony is very important. We really appreciate your travelling here to tell us about your point of view.
Ms. Simmons and Mr. Norton, you both talked about the importance of buying locally. We know that consumers want to buy locally, however we have to ensure that there are no barriers or physical impossibilities preventing this from happening. Consumers looking at products that they really want to buy want to know whether these products come from their region. However, we have realized that, at some point, the regulations issued by the government have made it impossible to ascertain whether or not these products are local.
This leads me to my question on the labelling of products in Canada. Have some of your members experienced problems since the rules changed?
We know that the previous rules were unacceptable as well, because it was the total cost of a product that determined whether or not it could be designated as a “Product of Canada” and the bar had been set very low, at 51%. This led to some anomalies, such as the case where the jar, liquid, lid and manpower were from Canada, but the pickle itself came from India and yet the product was still labeled as “Product of Canada”.
So we changed the rule, which was necessary. However, our committee examined this issue and the consensus was that we should adopt the 85% rule for Canadian products. So if sugar or certain other ingredients are added to local products, nobody will be penalized by not being allowed to put a “Product of Canada” label on the product.
As for our 98% rule, which we have in Quebec at any case, I have heard many reports about the economic problems caused: companies have to change the packaging, the labeling and consumers do not know what to think because we are not allowed to write “Product of Canada” on a product that is in fact 87% or 90% Canadian made. We never reach the 98% mark, because as soon as you add a little bit of something else, you have a problem.
I would therefore like to know whether you have experienced this type of problem in your respective sectors, and I would like to know what you think about it.