Mr. Chair, since we are considering motions, I have one that has been pending for some time now with respect to SRMs. I have new information to share in order to convince the committee members to vote in favour of my motion. It calls on the government to immediately implement a program to help the cattle industry cover the cost of $31.70 per head, which represents the competitive gap between the U.S. and Canada and which is the result of Canadian standards on specified risk material.
Last week, I was at the 85th convention of the Union des producteurs agricoles in Quebec City. During his speech, Quebec's agriculture minister talked about how the federal government had not fulfilled its duties with respect to SRMs and said that it should do so.
I have all the more reason to tell you about it since no federal representatives were at the meeting. I was there, as were some of my colleagues. Mr. Ritz, we know, could not attend because he was away with the Prime Minister. Mr. Blackburn, however, was here in Ottawa. He could have gone to Quebec City to speak to the producers directly. He did not. The fact that he did not go to Quebec City to speak to the producers directly did not go over well. I think he offered to send a recorded DVD message. Traditionally, the producers want face-to-face interaction. He could have appeared by video conference or in person. That would have been the best.
Quebec's agriculture minister answered the producers' questions and talked about the SRM issue.
Furthermore, I was asked two questions by the government. At the convention, I had the opportunity to talk with producers and people in the industry about providing assistance with respect to cattle older than 30 months. My motion seeks exactly the same thing as the producers. If we do not do anything, if we do not help producers close the gap between the Americans and us, a gap caused by Canadian SRM standards, the industry of cattle more than 30 months old will more or less completely disappear in the near future. I, too, am concerned by the fact that the Conservative government will not be giving producers money directly. When I discussed it with the president of the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec, he said he was aware of the problem. He was also aware that slaughterhouses are losing money. Money needs to be invested in slaughterhouses.
In Quebec, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughter facility is owned by the producers. Even if the money does not go directly into their pockets, they know they will get some assistance down the line. If nothing is done about this issue, there is no doubt that the producers, themselves, will pay the price. And that is happening right now, for that matter. As for the two questions from the Conservative committee members, I want to say that the producers completely agree with the contents of my motion. So I urge the committee members to support it.