Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is actually a good discussion here.
Just on this last point on Monsanto, if you did a comparison between farmer profits since GMOs have come in and Monsanto profits, I can tell you who's coming out the winner. It's Monsanto, big time, and I don't think they give a damn whether we make money or go broke at the bottom of the line.
In any event, I think there are real and legitimate concerns in the alfalfa industry and with perennial crops, but I guess the key is where do we... We've always had science-based criteria. What worries me is that this bill moves us away from that.
Is Bill C-474 the answer? I think we have to deal with this issue somehow, but I really debate whether or not Bill C-474 is the right bill. I agree that the farm community needs to be able to protect itself, not only in terms of export markets, but also in Canadian markets, and to protect itself in terms of the gene pool in the future.
In your experience, Jim, or in the experience of any of you who've looked at this in other countries, is Roundup Ready alfalfa produced anywhere else? I found your point on the contamination in the seed pools in the U.S. worrisome, but is Roundup Ready alfalfa really produced commercially anywhere in the world? I mean, the United States has stopped it.