As Canadians involved in the agriculture industry in one way or another, I think it's time that we understood the potential very real financial consequences if there were an outbreak of some sort of virus. The highest fine would be $500,000 for an organization that was planning this type of event.
I'll go back quickly to BSE. That cost our industry more than $30 billion. Tens of thousands of animals were lost. As I mentioned, 3,000 ranches were closed in Alberta. As you would know, we haven't got our cattle herd back to pre-BSE numbers.
What if we had an outbreak of African swine fever in Canada? That is a $45 billion industry in Canada. There are very real financial consequences to this that last decades. When we talk about doubling the fines as part of this proposal, that's still a drop in the bucket with respect to the potential financial implications of an outbreak on a farm or at a processing plant.