Thank you very much.
Mr. Tait and Mr. Robertson, one of the key points you raised in your report concerned the concentration of operations. You also stated, however, that some small slaughterhouses were not profitable or they were inefficient and that that was perhaps the reason why there were less slaughterhouses. That is the case in Alberta, for example, where there used to be 17 average-sized beef slaughterhouses. Larger businesses are establishing more and more very large slaughterhouses. For example, if Tyson Foods succeeds in selling its Brooks slaughterhouse in Alberta to XL Foods, XL Foods and Cargill Foods will own 80% of the slaughterhouses in Canada.
Your reports states that part of the solution lies in creating meat processing plants that belong to the producers. That raises the whole question of slaughtering capacity. There's only one good-sized slaughterhouse left in Quebec, in all of eastern Canada, probably, and that is the Levinoff-Colbex plant in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, not far from my riding. It is very difficult to get the federal government involved, even though we have heard over the past few years that the federal government is open to the idea of providing assistance to preserve the slaughterhouse. Ever since the SRM standards, that is the specified risk materials standards, were enforced, it has become very difficult. Apart from the verbal expression of openness, nothing has actually been done.
In the 2009 budget $50 million were announced, but it should be clear that this will be spread over three years for the whole of Canada. The budget also mentions new slaughterhouses. It is far from probable that our slaughterhouse will qualify for the assistance.
According to your report, the solution, or one of the solutions, would be to encourage the creation of a greater number of slaughterhouses in various regions. However, how do we avoid repeating the experience of closing smaller less efficient plants? Increasing the number of slaughterhouses only to close them again is not a solution.