Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's rather interesting that when Canada digs in its heels because it wants the best deal for Canadian agriculture, it's considered isolated. Other countries are doing exactly the same thing. They dig in their heels as well when they want a deal that's best for agriculture. Again, I stress the point that Canada's negotiators should go right to the wall and Canada should not start talking publicly about giving in. This is a negotiation, and during a negotiation you don't show your cards that way.
Secondly, Canada should not imply it will sign the deal regardless. That's a decision that is made on the last day of the negotiation. While the negotiation is going on, it should negotiate with strength.
Let me give you a quick example of how complicated the dynamics are. I mentioned earlier that I'm a turkey and a hog producer. Let's take, for example, the market access for pork into the EU. We would be better off if the EU would put pork into the sensitive product category.
Canada's position is that there should be no over-quota tariff reductions. The fact of the matter is, as a hog producer, I don't care if the EU leaves their over-quota tariffs as high as they want. What I want is free trade inside a TRQ that is fair and reflects at least the spirit of the Uruguay Round. That's what I need for market access as a hog producer.
If that happens, if they put it into the sensitive product category.... They've already promised in the framework text of July 2004 that they would expand their TRQs, so they would have to expand their pork TRQ. They could leave their over-quota tariff where they have it and at the same time that would help our supply management say we make TRQ commitments for market access but we can leave our over-quota tariffs where they are.
It's a negotiating stance that works both for supply management and, in this case, for pork exporters. So we believe they should continue to negotiate tough and get the best deal for Canadian agriculture they possibly can.