As you know, of course I look forward to those additional moneys back in that additional program, since it's of critical importance based on what we lived through last fall, the largest meat recall in Canadian history. There's a more recent example in the last few weeks, where we've seen a number of cases of E. coli in ground beef. Of course, that leads me to my next question around the issue of traceability, a program that has been suggested by both levels of government, provincial and federal, as well as the industry, as one that we need to actually go forward on.
Now there were some commitments made that we would get things done by 2011. We're now headed into 2013. It would seem that we're not nearly as far along as we should be in this particular program. I raise that point not in a context of our actually being affected by the outbreak in the EU, where we have seen meatballs with horsemeat in them. Let me be unequivocal: that is not here.
To be fair, Minister, it's not here in this country at all. I simply reference that in the sense that it's not an unhealthy thing, necessarily; you're just getting the wrong product. We need traceability when we do things in this country internally for our own market and externally for those with whom we're trading. As you pointed out—and I agree with you by the way—we export a great amount of product externally. Traceability becomes an intrinsic piece of this. It seems to me we've dropped the ball a certain degree. We started well. It seems as if we've taken our eye off that goal line.
Perhaps you can help me understand and point me in a direction where we can see some funding to get back on track with that sense of traceability. We're now seeing in a global sense, as you articulated, that the food supply system is getting more global every week. That being the case, it seems to me this ought to be near the top of our agenda when it comes to the issue of product. It's not necessarily only just safety; it is about consumers knowing that when they buy a product, they know what it is.
Traceability actually does two things in my view. It's a safety aspect, absolutely, unequivocally. The other piece is, I know what I get when I look at the label and it says this is what it is, unlike our colleagues in Europe who we're trying to actually have a trade deal with. They're buying meatballs and finding out they're not what they thought they were. When IKEA is selling you horsemeat meatballs, it's a bit difficult, it seems now. That's their issue. Let them sort it out, but let's not get there.