Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much, committee, for having us here.
My name is Stephen Laskowski. I'm the senior vice-president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance. Joining me, among her many hats, is Deanna Pagnan. She's the director of our livestock division. She will explain to you some of the issues we're getting into. I'll just open with some introductions about who we are and what our livestock division is.
The alliance is a federation of provincial trucking associations from across Canada. Our board of directors is made up of the various provincial trucking association executives and chairmen of those associations, who in turn have their own membership. In total we represent 4,500 carriers from across Canada, some of whom are of course involved in moving livestock, including sheep, cattle, and swine.
Members engaged in the livestock division are very different from those carriers who are engaged in moving dry goods or manufacturing goods. It's a specific segment within the industry, perhaps the most specialized—even more specialized than moving dangerous goods or fuel.
Livestock carriers within CTA are very much committed to the safe transport of animals. We understand that moving forward, it's not just about moving a commodity but moving a commodity safely and within the expectations of government, ourselves, and the consumers.
Moving livestock, as I've said, is far more complicated than moving anything related to manufacturing. There are preparation of animal compartments, loading and sorting, proper cleaning, safety of the animals in transit, associated paperwork, and also, different driving skills are involved in moving animals. It's a very specialized business, and one in which we are running into challenges.
Deanna will explain some of those challenges going forward.
Among the issues we'll be dealing with today, we'll talk about training, traceability, and some other issues involved in attracting people to our industry.
With that introduction, I'll turn the mike over to Deanna Pagnan.