I've made some comments in the last six months, at least, if not more, about this industry. Those comments are really in line with what is happening in beef, but pork is not that much different. Those two commodities in our country are at risk. And they're not just at risk of losing money; they're at risk of completely disappearing from this Canadian market. We will still have beef meat and pork meat in our country, there's no doubt about that, and probably some niche markets here and there, but in terms of the volume that we are now doing in Canada, both in processed meat and the secondary processing industry, we are at risk of losing that.
People were laughing at fisheries ten years ago for thinking that they were at risk of losing it. Now it's done in Canada. Five years ago we had that same discussion about pulp and paper and lumber. It's gone, it's finished. We face other risks in beef--the dollar value, the high delivery cost, other types of regulation. Those risks are there, and they are not smaller than they were five years ago; they are bigger. So we have to sit down and look at all the other factors that affect this sector--those sectors, if we extend it to pork--in Canada, and as soon as possible. And not in a committee of 60 people. Really, the people who are involved with that product should come, from farmer to processor, and look at the future of this industry--if there is a future. We cannot look only at opening markets. That's very good, and we have to do that, but we have to look at reinforcing our slaughter capacity in Canada--numbers. Losing the critical mass is losing the killing facility in this country. That's what happened in the Maritimes. That's what is happening in Quebec. Guelph and Ontario are losing volume, and in western Canada it's the same. So we have to look at that very rapidly.
In the short term, this issue of risk material has to be addressed. Why are only farmers paying for that? Because we are suffering from that relationship. I agree with everybody else here; it was not the intent at the beginning. But it's there now. Who benefits from this economic activity in Canada? It's the workers in the plant, the government from taxes. So you have to share the risk with us. This is our demand regarding this $24 million, until, as Brian said, we are able to reduce that amount of money or we come to an agreement with the U.S. on harmonization. Don't lose that part. It's there also. We don't want support forever. If there's a way to counteract, invest in some different way of processing, or energy.... We look at that in our plan in Quebec.
There are all types of possibilities, but we have to sit down very rapidly on the overall situation of beef and hogs in this country, because we are at risk of losing those.