Hi, my name is Eadie Steele. I'm a sheep producer, with my husband, John, in central Ontario near Peterborough. We have a flock of about 1,800 ewes.
The sheep industry right now is probably one of the bright spots in the agricultural industry. It's a growing industry. It's very positive. It's a strong market with lots of opportunities. The only thing I'd like to have the committee address is the problem, not only for the sheep industry but for other industries as well, of regulatory issues related to the licensing of drugs and vaccines and so on that imported meats have access to.
I was speaking to Mr. Shipley at lunchtime, and I said to him that we are probably very unique in the sheep industry in that we do not view New Zealand and Australian meats as competitors. I view them as complementary to Canadian lamb simply because they can fill the market when we cannot.
The Australian and New Zealand people are very good at producing a lot of lamb. I would much prefer that when consumers go to the grocery store looking for lamb they are able to buy lamb. Whether it be from Canada or New Zealand is irrelevant. I don't want them to buy another kind of meat; I want to them to keep eating lamb. I'm quite happy to have the New Zealanders and Australians fill the market when we're not able to. However, I would like it to be a level playing field. We would like to have access to the vaccines and wormers they have access to.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.