Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
I have to tell you that many of the producers in Ontario are very optimistic about agriculture. I think it's actually one of the industries that has some the biggest opportunities in Canada, recognizing that in some of the programs we have some issues.
First, I would like to know what the agriculture budget was before 2006.
Second, I have specific issues when I talk about programs. On AgriInvest, some producers have been calling because they are not getting, are just getting, or haven't got their 2008 AgriInvest apps. Mostly these are corporations, but not 100% of them, and they can't get their 2009 until this is complete. It seems that if the form is not 100% right, it gets put into a non-compliant file. Rather than somebody picking up the phone and having it fixed, it drags out.
We also work with Agricorp in Ontario. Can you help me understand whether they have all of the hardware capacity needed to deal with the situation?
Next, can you tell me a little about where we are on traceability for pork and beef?
Finally, there is the importance of education. I'm so glad to see the uptake in terms of the youth employment program. But when we were meeting with young producers and looking at the future of farming, there was a key point with these producers. Some of them are the ones who--and I often sit down and talk to producer groups--never even talk about programs because they are focusing on the significant issues we want to deal with: research, sustainability of our industry, and how we are going to partner with them, because they believe in partnerships. That may be more of a comment, but on education, do you see that portfolio growing?
I'm sorry. That was about four questions, but I'll leave it at that.