Again, by way of context, you're absolutely right. The question is very germane to the kinds of challenges that primary production and early processors face. The nature of the challenge is that it's very difficult to get Canadians to work at seasonal agriculture.
When you're in the business of horticulture production and your crop is coming to harvest, there's no stopping the growth of your crop. When it's ready to be taken off, it has to be taken off and it has to be done quickly. It's difficult to attract Canadians to that kind of seasonal work. It's intensive and often very difficult. Primary producers have access to a number of provisions that allow them to engage temporary foreign workers, and generally that system works very well.
There have been some challenges noted by processors. I'll give you an example in the meat industry. Early processing, the first processing steps in meat production, involve the slaughter and butchering of animals. It's a difficult job that is hard to attract Canadians to doing. Moreover, many of these businesses, not surprisingly, tend to be located in rural communities where meat production occurs, hog and beef production in particular. In small rural communities, there aren't enough people available for this kind of work.
A small town like Brandon may not be able to supply Maple Leaf Foods with all the workers that Maple Leaf Foods wants. The temporary foreign worker program brings in temporary workers, sometimes skilled and sometimes semi-skilled, for jobs that are relatively well-paying, even compared with Canadian jobs. It's a big challenge and a significant expense.
My minister is very interested in the access of processors and producers at the primary level to the temporary foreign worker program. He is engaging his colleagues to make sure that the needs of the sector are being met.