Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, thank you for your presentations.
I represent the riding of Drummond. The Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is therefore in my riding. Moreover, I have visited it. I was very impressed, and yet despite that, I am a neophyte when it comes to the field of agriculture and everything that pertains to it. This is the first time that I have been to this committee.
My question is a question that a neophyte would ask because I have to answer questions raised by the people in my riding on this subject. I have to provide them with an explanation about what is going on and I am telling them that there is a fundamental problem. It appears that we Canadians do not have the same regulations as the Americans, resulting in higher costs for us. People are always telling me that we should simply adopt the American standards.
My question is for Mr. Couture. What was our rationale for doing that, and given that you work on both sides of the border, what are we doing here that they do not do there, or vice versa?