Just on the temporary foreign workers, you're right to point out that the choke point is processing. I absolutely agree with you on that.
I know there's some work being done by two of my colleagues, Jason Kenney and Chris Alexander, with the provinces in order to work on the express entry and provincial nominee programs, to bring in the skill sets required for those. The problem is that there's never been a definition beyond “agricultural worker”, the guy that picks or the guy with the fork. We're working on that to partner with the provinces as to how we bring people in for those skill-set agricultural jobs in processing, and not through the revolving door that the temporary foreign worker program was. They're buoyed by that, and I know there's some work being done on that.
On the PACA issue, as you will know, it's not an agricultural issue. The horticulture industry certainly is us, but the actual issue is industry and finance, at the end of the day. I know there are discussions going on and a report that's just coming in—it's imminent—on the bankruptcy act and how this type of thing could be put in play so that perishable goods could have that first right.
There are discussions going on with provinces as to what changes would need to be made at the provincial level, as well as what umbrella would be needed at the federal level in order to recapture that. One of the things that would be quite easy to do, which the industry seems to not respond well to, is a check-off on product going out and product coming in from the U.S. that could be put and matched with government funding to create a pool.
The PACA is a great backstop, but it's not well used. It triggered some $7 million over the last five years, and of course, we're doing a couple of billion dollars a year in trade. When you look at $10 billion or $12 billion in trade, and $7 million is what was required, certainly a check-off administered by the Farm Products Council or something like that could be part of the solution quicker than some of the legislative changes that are needed. But we're looking at it all.