I'd like to thank all the presenters here today, especially the representatives from the different commodities in Quebec who gave us quite a snapshot of their red meat industry.
A couple of months ago I was in New Zealand, and it's not hard to figure out why they can produce milk and lamb so cheaply there. They don't need to have barns, they don't make forage, and they don't even have predators. But I found it interesting, when I went to the retail outlets, that their prices were just as high for lamb as they are here. Many of our witnesses before today alluded to the prices farmers are receiving and the percentage that farmers--especially beef farmers--are receiving compared to what the retailers are paying. It's dropping every year. We have hog producers going out of business in Atlantic Canada and right across the country, and sheep farmers are not getting a return on their production.
My first question is to those individuals representing red meat. Should we be looking at different marketing systems for some of the red meat sectors so farmers get a better return? It was suggested that exporting should be done a little differently and in a more uniform manner.
My second question is to you, Ron. What we're seeing across this country—since you're from the Federation of Agriculture—is a patchwork of programs, with different provinces having different money going into their sectors. I'm reading this article from Country Guide. It says that in Quebec, non-supply-management is getting subsidized by 15%, while in Ontario they're getting subsidized by 10%. Different provinces have different beef programs. We see that AgriFlex is not flexible at all, especially for mixed farms.
Are we going down the wrong path with this patchwork of programs and the programs the federal government has?
If you can give a short answer, I'll go to the other members about the marketing systems they would like to see in place.