Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Fossen, in all the testimony we have heard today—all very interesting and important—I was most struck when you said that you were the youngest in your area and that you did not think that you were going to be able to last very long. When a person working on the land with a whole career ahead of him tells us—we who sit in our ivory tower in Ottawa pondering about free trade and all kinds of other matters of great import—that he is thinking of getting out of the business if things do not get better, it is a concern. It gets our attention like a slap in the face. Unfortunately, though it may seem counterintuitive, that is the kind of testimony that gets governments moving.
I would like to go back to SRM. As you know, the Canadian Meat Council has estimated the additional cost of disposing of SRM in Canada to be $31.70 per head. That is the very precise calculation of our direct competitive disadvantage with the Americans.
Earlier, Mr. Valeriote mentioned that there was an announcement on SRM in the last budget. We do not yet have all the details and features of the program.
Do you agree with the Canadian Meat Council and the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec that $31.70 should be provided to producers in order to redress the balance with our American competitors, who have not instituted the same measures? Is it your hope that the announcement in the budget can be of direct use to you in solving the problem of what I call unfair competition?